#IAMTOMOFFINLAND CAMPAIGN

Title#IAMTOMOFFINLAND CAMPAIGN
BrandFINNKINO
Product/ServiceTOM OF FINLAND MOVIE
Category C01. Use of Digital in a PR campaign
Entrant BOB THE ROBOT Helsinki, FINLAND
Idea Creation BOB THE ROBOT Helsinki, FINLAND
Media Placement BOB THE ROBOT Helsinki, FINLAND
PR MANIFESTO Helsinki, FINLAND
Production BOB THE ROBOT Helsinki, FINLAND
Production 2 VEIKKO KäHKöNEN PHOTOGRAPHY Helsinki, FINLAND
Production 3 FLC Helsinki, FINLAND
Credits
Name Company Position
Henri Haka Bob The Robot Creative
Heidi Taina Bob The Robot Creative
Karolus Viitala Bob The Robot Strategy Director
Maija Silamo Bob The Robot Head of Client Team
Petra Yli-Hemminki Bob The Robot Producer
Sakari Nordman Bob The Robot Graphic Designer
Aino Soukko Bob The Robot Graphic Designer
Pekka Saarela Bob The Robot Graphic Designer
Mikko Kalso Bob The Robot Digital Creative Director
Petri Santala Bob The Robot Digital Producer
Kenneth Nylund Bob The Robot Technical Developer
Lauri Tarkka Bob The Robot Motion Designer
Okko Käyhkö Bob The Robot Motion Designer
Veikko Kähkönen Veikko Kähkönen Photography Photographer
Kasimir Häiväoja FLC Helsinki Head of Post Production
Emma Eskola Veikko Kähkönen Photography Photo Producer
Anna Siltanen Veikko Kähkönen Photography Photo Producer
Jonna Varhama PR Agency Manifesto Account Director
Henriikka Simojoki PR Agency Manifesto Communications Consultant
Kaisa Neittaanmäki PR Agency Manifesto Communications Consultant

The Campaign

Tom of Finland drew homoerotic art in a time when it was still illegal in most countries. His art created a whole new masculine identity for gay men in the late 20th century. Although unwillingly, he became a symbol for sexual liberation. The movie about him is a true story about courage, love and freedom. To make Tom of Finland – both the historic character and the movie – more appealing to the masses, we decided to turn him into a Finnish human rights hero. While we knew that many Finns would not necessarily be interested in seeing an LGBT film, we knew that the vast majority of Finns would stand for courage, love and freedom. The campaign #IAMTOMOFFINLAND gave the audience tools to show their support for these basic human values – while promoting the movie at the same time.

Execution

20 Finnish A-list celebrities volunteered to be the brave faces of the campaign. They were photographed in the erotic style of Tom of Finland’s art in leather and caps. The celebrity images were accompanied by a bold #IAMTOMOFFINLAND text, inviting everybody to “stand up for courage, love and freedom”. The audience was given a chance to take part with an easy-to-use image generator: one could take a selfie and turn it into a piece of Tom of Finland art. Since a major part of communication and self-expression happens via virtual channels, Tom of Finland movie needed its own emojis. The emojis mostly used for flirtation and sexual innuendo were given a Tom of Finland treatment. The black leather egg plants, peaches and leather gloved thumbs-up-hands were given for people to play around with. After all, Tom of Finland imagery is vividly sexual, but there is also a lot of humor.

The media went crazy over the campaign. The half-naked celebrities worked as Trojan horses delivering our human rights message in this time of clickbait journalism. Every single relevant media outlet in Finland published at least one piece about the campaign and movie resulting in 267 articles. • More than just media hits: the campaign penetrated the popular culture in Finland. During the campaign time #IAMTOMOFFINLAND was the most talked about topic in radio, newspapers, TV and social media. The campaign got featured in cartoons and radio morning shows. Even restaurants, holiday resorts and pets participated made their own #IAMTOMOFFINLAND images, proving that people really loved the campaign: everybody in Finland stood with Tom of Finland for courage, love and freedom. • The image generator went viral even outside Finnish borders although the campaign site was only in Finnish: over 150 000 Tom of Finland selfies were generated in two weeks. • Amnesty International declared the movie and the campaign an act of human rights. https://www.amnesty.fi/amnesty-tom-of-finland-elokuva-on-ihmisoikeusteko/ • Finnish Foreign Ministry also adopted one of the Tom of Finland emojis to their official Finland emoji collection. https://finland.fi/emoji/tom-of-finland/

The Situation

The #IAMTOMOFFINLAND campaign turned the biopic movie about the late gay-pornographic artist into a human rights movement and the most talked-about topic in the whole country.

The Strategy

To get the whole of Finland talking about the upcoming movie, we made the campaign about basic human values and wanted to give people simple tools to show their support for values – and those of the movie – COURAGE, LOVE and FREEDOM. We wanted it to be easy for everyone to claim that “Tom of Finland was a freedom fighter for these things I believe in, therefore #IAMTOMOFFINLAND.” The strategy was activation and engagement. The campaign was a platform for people to express their social consciousness and personal values (virality), with popular public figures acting as an example for the rest of the country to join the cause (earned media).