A 295% INCREASE IN TRAFFIC for
THE CHARITY, ‘FREEDOM FROM TORTURE’.
Freedom from Torture is a charity dedicated to the care of survivors of torture.
Their biggest challenge was how to generate awareness and support for their organisation.
How could we get people to go to their website to find out more? By revealing an inconvenient truth.
Torturers are not monsters, they are people who think they are doing a good job.
To dramatise this, I created a campaign of bogus recruitment ads for would-be torturers.
THE RESULTS
The campaign ran only twice in The Guardian and The Independent. Within that one week,
the ads generated a 295% increase in traffic. The average time spent on Freedom from
Torture’s website doubled. The campaign cost the client £629.88.
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THE CREATIVE EXECUTION
The bogus job ads were placed in the recruitment section of The Guardian and The Independent.
They looked like conventional recruitment ads, complete with logos and industry awards.
The copy describes horrific acts but is written in conventional business speak. Half way through,
the copy changes and explains that although recruitment ads for torturers are rare, sadly,
the jobs exist and there is no shortage of candidates. The copy ends by explaining that this really
is a recruitment ad, Freedom from Torture has a job for all of us – to support them in the
important work that they do.
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The fourth execution, Rapist, never ran, even though rape is commonly used as a form of torture.
The client thought this execution would be too contentious.
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