POWA

In SA, gender-based violence is five times the global average. During lockdown, with victims trapped in homes with their abusers, this rate escalated beyond crisis levels: calls to GBV helplines tripled. But this shocking increase received scant news coverage.

Brief: With zero media budget and little for production, POWA needed to develop an innovative, high impact piece of visual communication to actively engage people and simultaneously achieve the reach needed to create mass public awareness around the issue.

Insight: Gender based violence in South Africa is rooted in a culture of silence that has normalised women abuse, especially in domestic settings.

For all intents and purposes SA has been victim to a silent pandemic long before Covid-19.

So, while the news discussed the Covid-19 pandemic non-stop, little was said about this other silent pandemic of abuse raging through SA homes.

Idea: The Abused News
We developed a new, unexpected type of real-time augmented reality experience for a mass audience by innovating within a very traditional TV news format. As the nation sat glued to their TVs for the latest Covid updates, we partnered with Soweto TV to create The Abused News: the world’s first augmented reality news takeover using AR face tracking to map bruises onto a presenter’s face as she read the Covid news, live.

Using advanced AR software, we developed a unique digital face mesh identical to our presenter’s profile. Database images were aggregated to create realistic bruising animations which were mapped onto the mesh on a timeline. Then, by adapting a facial tracker, we applied the effect to our presenter’s face as a seamless filter, while it was broadcast live to the nation.

Transforming a TV news channel into an augmented reality interface allowed us to show the country the pandemic they weren’t hearing about. The effect was instantaneous, sparking an outcry across SA’s social media, achieving 3 million cross-platform views in 48 hours.

Even competing news networks joined the debate, while the stunt drove people to the campaign website to pledge their support. Simultaneously, we seeded videos of influencers taking the pledge on social media – AR bruising filter applied, now in reverse, showing how speaking out against abuse can bring an end to the silent pandemic.

Budget: R45 000 (Production Only – No Media)
Duration: 25 November – 2 December 2021