Unilever sought to encourage South Africans to break their silence about gender-based violence. In South Africa, 1 in 5 women face the adversity of being in abusive relationships.
Joko, the Unilever tea that fuels strong conversations, wanted to amplify these stories to a wide audience.
Hearing stories of survivors helps victims of domestic violence rise above the trauma, overcome adversity and know there is hope and help at hand – but only if these stories are heard.
The Hardy Boys has helped Joko in its social mission to harness the power of conversations to help reduce domestic violence. Conversations started over a cup of Joko tea can inspire women to find strength and speak out against domestic abuse.
The campaign uncovered true-life tales from domestic violence survivors, and then called on celebrities, influencers and the public to lend their voices to narrating them so the stories could be heard by a wide audience.
Developed in partnership with South African NGO and women’s rights advocates POWA – People Opposing Woman Abuse – ‘Donate Your Voice’ is based on the insight that all too often, the real-life human stories of abuse are overshadowed by the horrific statistics. The campaign ensures these stories are heard to raise awareness of the increase in violence during the COVID pandemic as women have been confined indoors with abusive family members and partners.
The Hardy Boys also plans to create a compilation of voices collected during the campaign mashed together and read as a survivor poem, and create an exhibition of survivors’ portraits.
The campaign launched with 3 emotive films that beautifully told the stories of domestic violence survivors, and the actual authors were paired with well-known actresses in the film. Leveraging off the popularity of our celebrities, the films reached as wide an audience as possible and drove people to the campaign website where they could record their voice to help narrate a story.
