It’s that time of year again, when, along with the sound of sleigh bells in the snow (as you approach the tills), the talk turns to the carnage on our roads and, behind the scenes and not spoken about enough, in our houses.
Every year there are pledges by the government to tackle the twin scourges of road deaths and gender-based violence (GBV)… and every year, we hear more and more horror stories.
One hopes that, with GBV, the ugly face of South Africa is now making us aware of how awful we really are – both in our own eyes and in the eyes of the rest of the world. Yet, trying to educate men (by far the bulk of offenders) that women and girls have rights and must be respected, sometimes seems an impossible task.
Approaching the problem from the other side, though, shows more promise. Getting girls to know their rights and that they do not deserve to be abused is definitely going to be worthwhile in the long run. Strong and independent, as well as self-aware, girls grow up to be strong and independent, as well as self-aware women. And strong women will eventually bring about change.
That’s why it is encouraging to see the latest effort to reach girls and young women (and guys, if they’ll just listen) through the medium of song. The campaign, around the slogan My Body/Stand Up has been backed by The 1st For Women Foundation, the corporate responsibility arm of 1st For Women insurance.
What they did was take a song from back in 1983 – which was used around the world to raise awareness in schools of sexual abuse – and give it a “reboot”, both as a way to get the GBV message across, but all to raise funds to fight that “second pandemic”.
My Body samples a song by educational psychologist Peter Alsop and teaches themes such as consent and boundaries. The new track features artists including Lira, Juliet Harding from GoodLuck, Mariechan – who rose to fame as one third of the girl group, Jamali – and Gigi LaMayne.
It was conceptualised by Mike Sharman of Retroviral and composed by Chris Snyman and Garth Barnes and produced by TigerFight on behalf of 1st for Women. And all of them deserve Orchids for putting the message across in a funky, but memorable, way.
And what sticks with you clearly when you watch the video is that there is a new assertiveness out there… an assertiveness which says to whoever wants to mess with you: No! This is My Body!
It’s also a reminder that our creative industries, like advertising, can bring immense firepower to bear in the fight to make this country safer for girls and women.
Well done, again, to everyone.
A campaign which touches similar themes but from a global perspective, also came to my attention this week. Done by New York agency MullenLowe for United Nations Women (UNwomen), it deals with what are known as the “legal gaps” in countries around the world which perpetuate the cycles of violence against women.
They make you think. One says: This is a picture of a man raping his wife. It’s illegal for us to show it but in 34 countries, it is not illegal for him to do it.
Similar executions relate to beatings of women and the female genital mutilation, which are still legal in many parts of the world.
It makes you think.
A sneak preview sent out of hundreds of media people and “influencers”, no doubt.
It’s tired, people. And it’s lazy. But most of all, how the hell are we going to believe you when you go live with the next phase of your marketing, promising “the lowest fares in the sky” or “the best space on the clouds” or some similar claptrap.
You don’t need to gush. There are enough people who are interested in what you’re doing not to cheapen your message with illogical clichés. So, an Onion for you, Lift. Nothing sneaky about it either…
Brendan Seery
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