Summer weather means that dangerous migrant boat crossings are reaching their peak on the English Channel, and Havas London has responded with a powerful campaign for Refugease.
The idea is to contrast commuter journeys with refugee journeys, and the execution provides a chilling approximation of what it’s like to be in a small boat on the Channel. The message is, “Some journeys cost everything.”
Havas has produced a cinema film and radio ads using actors to voice a real-life transcript of a refugee experience in a capsizing boat, but the real impact comes in the OOH and transport versions which hit the target audience right where they will feel it most.
Valentina Osborn, Refugease founder and MD, said: “Our aim is first to evacuate civilians from where conflicts are at their most precarious, then we do what we can to add to the resources of neighbouring nations (whether food packages, education, employment opportunities, or sustainable farming systems) – doing what we can to help refugees avoid making dangerous journeys further afield.”
Nathalie Gordon, creative partner at Havas London, said: “Never again will we complain about an uncomfortable commute. Understanding the full extent of not only what drives people to believe getting on a boat is their only option, but also what one of these journeys is actually like, is beyond comprehension. That’s why we couldn’t just tell the stories, we had to find ways to fully immerse audiences in the moments instead.”
There’s a takeover at Tottenham Court Road Station, and it will be seen on all central London stops of the Elizabeth Line, plus there’s a mural on the Kent coast.
The campaign launch is timed to mark the second anniversary of the highest number of attempted crossings on record in a single day (1,295 in 2022). Compared and contrasted with the ongoing horror of the super rich’s sunken super yacht in Sicily, this work will be very hard to ignore.
MAA creative scale: 8
