BBH hijacks ITV’s ‘Loose Women’ in breakthrough campaign for domestic abuse charity Refuge

Refuge is a charity supporting female victims of domestic violence and Loose Women is an ITV show featuring a trio of voluble ladies.

So Refuge’s agency BBH had the bright idea of hijacking the show (with permission of course) to show singer Jamelia talking live on air in this week’s edition; with no other ‘loose women’ or an audience in sight, to highlight the loneliness of women, like her, who had suffered said abuse.

Refuge CEO Sandra Horley came on the show afterwards too discuss domestic violence. The film will remain on the ITV and Refuge websites and the #YouAreNotAlone campaign as a whole will continue in social media.

Caroline Pay, head of creative development at BBH London and creative director on the project says: “We are always searching for new ways to raise awareness for Refuge and all the incredible work they do. Our Lauren Luke campaign was a hard act to follow, but this work felt just as exciting and fresh, giving us a chance to surprise and engage with a broad audience of women who may well be feeling unable to reach out for help.”

The point of such campaigns is not to win awards of course. But this one will doubtless engage the judges in the ever-proliferating awards category of ‘creative use of media.’