A group of refugees of middle-eastern origin are sitting in a classroom, trying to learn Norwegian. Young girls and boys are solemnly struggling with the unfamiliar words of a language that is obviously very new to them. Eager to get the intonation right, the young refugees are seemingly oblivious to the fact that the words used in the learning process are harsh comments from immigrant-hostile Norwegian Facebook-pages. This is made absolutely clear to the audience by superimposing a racist Facebook status on the screen as the last immigrant boy repeats a Norwegian word, trying to read the last word from the status correctly.
Execution
There are no actors in this film. These refugees are living in reception centers around Norway. The comments are real comments written by immigrant hostile Norwegians in different Facebook groups. Like many European countries, the ongoing refugee crises have sparked heated debates in Norway too. These debates are often polarized by the extremist views of a small minority expressing fear and hatred fuelled by prejudice and ignorance. Language is the most basic and fundamental key to integration in any society. At the same time, language can also be the most destructive factor in integration when it is used to express misconceptions and racism. Encouraging viewers to talk with refugees and not just about them, the goal of the Norwegian red cross is not only to make people think twice about posting negative comments online, but also challenge the Norwegian people to get to know the refugees– by talking to them.
The campaign was powerful that it quickly became viral:
2.7 million people reached though FB
1,800,000 views
86,813 likes / reactions
4170 comments
26228 splits
432202 click Post
11,555 signed (denouncing hate speech)
5267 answered questions from refugees
Norstat ad-recall survey demonstrated the following results:
33% remember having seen the movie.
59% think the campaign will help more deplore hostile comments online.
65% think that the campaign contributes to positive integration
In addition, the campaign got over 30 major editorial items in both local and national media such as VG, TV2, Dagbladet, Aftenposten etc.
The Situation
Red Cross did only have a minute media budget. Hence, the whole campaign had to be driven by PR and social media sharing.
The Strategy
The target audience was the opinion leaders and the general adult population of Norway.
Since Red Cross only had a minor media budget - most of the distribution was done organically via PR, Facebook and social media.
The PR planning was to share the viral syndrome which we knew was likely to occur with such a relevant and emotional video. Once is was snowballing, Red Cross shared the results with major media who the prioritized to share it during prime time.