Footballer Sol Campbell, athlete Ade Adepitan, musician Tinie Tempah and actor David Harewood have all turned their skin white for a new Operation Black Vote campaign aimed at encouraging encourage the BAME community to register and vote in the forthcoming UK General Election.
The campaign, developed in harness with agency Saatchi & Saatchi London, is generating plenty of press and social media attention as the sports and creative ambassadors have ‘whitened up’ for the creative.
Both the UK press and Twitter is buzzing about the campaign fronted by the former England, Arsenal and Spurs defender, the Paralympian, the Homeland actors and the rapper known for number one singles ‘Frisky’ and ‘Pass Out’.
The initiative is spearheaded by flagship outdoor and press executions, and ruins across social channels too, with ads featuring the copyline: ‘If you don’t register to vote, you’re taking the colour out of Britain’.
Designed to provoke discussion and debate, the photography is by Ranking and the ECDs are Andy Jex and Rob Potts.
‘I agreed to do the Operation Black Vote pictures because I wanted to highlight the problem with some sections of Britain who are not registering to vote for their future,’ stated Cam,pbell.
There is also a supporting 60-second YouTube video showing David Harewood preparing for the photo shoot:
The campaign objective is to raise the consciousness amongst Britain’s ethnic minorities regarding their democratic position and calls on all Black, Asian and ethnic minority Britons to register to vote.
The general election will be held on 7 May to elect the 56th Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Comment
This is a further sign of a revival of athlete advocacy, as an increasing number of high profile sportsmen are feeling empowered to express their opinions publicly.
Previous decades have witnessed several high profile sports star led rights protests – from Jim Brown, Bill Russell, Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul Jabbar, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby and, most famous of all, Mohamed Ali – but since the 1980s and the advent of huge sponsorship deals, tightly regulated contracts and media training saw a major decline is such campaigns.
But recent months suggest we might be seeing the ‘Return Of The Athlete Ambassador’ with high profile initiatives such as the ‘I Can’t Breathe’ shirt wworn by several huge NBA stars (the slogan refers to the final words of Eric Garner: a NY man who died after being placed in a chokehold by NYPD – and a grand jury decision not to indict the officer involved).
Even brands are starting to become more activist now too – such as the recent anti-FIFA campaign from sportswear outfit Skins (see case study).
Featuring high profile stars from the worlds of sport and entertainment in tandem with creative designed to spark controversy to raise the profile of the message has certainly succeeded in generating headlines and promoting viral spread.
This is a sure fire way of raising a campaign’s profile and driving awareness on a low budget.
Although some may argue that the positive message and call-to-action might get lost along the way.
Links
https://twitter.com/opblackvote
https://www.facebook.com/OperationBlackVote
https://www.youtube.com/user/OperationBlackVote
