In social advertising any means justify the ends. Controversial, creative yet striking marketing campaigns are meant to immediately grab attention, provoke thoughts and actions. Being loud, straightforward and shocking is the key to get noticed in today’s information overload. Especially when trying to raise awareness about important and sensitive subjects, and to inspire a change which we still seem unable to make. When speaking on behalf of those, who can’t defend nor express themselves, it’s extremely important to reach people fast and effectively. So the more disturbing and provoking the ad is, the more attention it’s likely to attract and more voiceless voices will be heard.
A powerful and pretty intimidating awareness raising campaign was initiated over a month ago by Swiss organization Tier im Recht (The Foundation for the Animal in the Law). It features 4 eye-catching images of animals in so-called BDSM clothes and a visible slogan: "No animal takes pleasure in suffering”.
Image credits: Tier im Recht
The clever ad reminds us all that animals, unlike people, can’t give consent to violent acts and abuse and they most definitely don’t have a ‘safe word’. We are the ones who can and should speak out for them.
Image credits: Tier im Recht
This campaign was inspired by the animal rights violation in Switzerland. To this day, animals in Switzerland do not receive the legal protection they deserve, and as the result, countless animals live in unbearable conditions and no one is to be punished. TIR has been advocating for a strong legal protection of animals since 1996. The main purpose of TIR's actions is the continuous improvement of the human-animal relationship in a legal, ethical and social sense both on national and international level. For this reason, TIR campaigns on a political and legal level for the transfer of correct knowledge and a determined enforcement of the animal welfare provisions.
Image credits: Tier im Recht
The unconventional concept of the campaign was created by Ruf Lanz advertising agency which has been supporting TIR pro bono for many years. This is, in fact, the fourth eye-catching and incisive campaign that they've collaborated on. They previously launched “Animals as trash”, “Animal judges” and “Behind bars”. Needless to say, the animals in the photographs are computer-generated. 3D animals were modeled by internationally-known image concept house based in Bucharest, Carioca Studio.
Image credits: Tier im Recht