Title	MY NAME IS ENOUGH
Brand	UNFPA
Product/Service	SOCIAL AD
Category	A01. Glass
Entrant	DOPING CREATIVE AGENCY Yerevan, ARMENIA
Idea Creation	DOPING CREATIVE AGENCY Yerevan, ARMENIA
PR	DOPING CREATIVE AGENCY Yerevan, ARMENIA
Production	DOPING CREATIVE AGENCY Yerevan, ARMENIA

Name	Company	Position
Hayk Simonyan	Doping Creative Agency	CEO
Hovhannes Margaryan	Doping Creative Agency	Creative Director
Narek Hakobyan	Doping Creative Agency	Creative Producer
Tigran Gevorgyan	Doping Creative Agency	Copywriter
Mary Mailyan	Doping Creative Agency	Copywriter
Anjela Petrosyan	Doping Creative Agency	Copywriter
Artsrun Sakanyan	Doping Creative Agency	Copywriter
Hayk Ayvazyan	Doping Creative Agency	Copywriter
Mariam Hakobyan	Doping Creative Agency	Copywriter
Tigran Sirunyan	Doping Creative Agency	Copywriter
Anush Ghazaryan	Doping Creative Agency	Designer
Luiza Petrosyan	Doping Creative Agency	Designer
Ani Amaryan	Doping Creative Agency	Designer
Edgar Mkrtchyan	Doping Creative Agency	Web Designer
Hasmik Barkhudaryan	Doping Creative Agency	Communications Manager

Background

Armenia has the 5th highest rate of sex-selective abortions in the world. In the past 25 years, this harmful practice has prevented the birth of over 40,000 girls. At this rate, the number will reach 96,000 by 2060.

Describe the cultural / social / political climate in your region and the significance of your campaign within this context

For a country with less than 3 million population, these are alarming numbers. Boy preference is so strong in Armenia that some superstitious families name their daughters “Bavakan” (literally “Enough”) to prevent the birth of another girl. Hence the title of the campaign: “Bavakane,” a wordplay that means “It is enough.”

Describe the creative idea

Before we would officially launch the campaign, we published a provocative PSA video where we glorify all the fields Armenia is a leader in -- sports, IT, science, etc., -- including sex-selective abortions. This pseudo-patriotic spot made a lot of people agitated and prepared grounds to start a widespread discussion on gender-biased sex selection. To provide optimal coverage for the campaign, we chose the tallest statue in the country; one that nobody could ignore. It is the symbol of the country’s strength and the personification of Armenia. We decided to illuminate the statue red as an alert, an SOS signal that this situation, if continued, will have devastating social, demographic and economic consequences. We projected Armenia’s statistics on gender-biased sex selection onto the statue’s pedestal to get the message through. The statue remained red all night to ensure maximum visibility. Overnight, it went viral.

Describe the strategy

Since the issue of sex-selective abortions is a nation-wide problem with deep-rooted biased perception of gender roles, the awareness raising campaign targeted the country’s population as a whole. The underlying idea was that such a complex issue required cooperative efforts from a large part of the society. That said, the campaign aimed to eventually get through to the relevant policy makers and influencers who have the authority to bring about legal change. To combat the issue, we set out to: • Raise awareness about the alarming statistics and their demographic, social and economic impact, • Prompt a nation-wide public discussion about boy preference and gender roles, • Promote a change in social norms by increasing the value of girls in society.

Describe the execution

Armenia has 1.7 million active internet users. The 3 most popular platforms they frequent are Facebook, Instagram and OK.ru. So, the first piece of information that would start the conversation was a short provocative PSA video that quickly spread across social media and was soon aired by national television. The next step was to launch a website – www.bavakane.am – with the relevant data and statistics. Here women could share their own stories and get free, anonymous psychological assistance. As the main device to communicate the campaign’s message, however, we chose Mother Armenia statue. It is the tallest statue in the country, observed from most parts of the capital city of Yerevan. The statue is the female personification of Armenia and symbolizes women’s role in our society -- which one would consider rather ironic given the official statistics on sex-selective abortions. As such, the statue would be impossible to ignore.

Describe the results / impact

The “Bavakane” campaign ultimately garnered over 13,000,000 impressions, which is around 4 times the country’s population. It was covered by more than 70 local and international media outlets. The PSA video was viewed over 3,000,000 times, and the official landing page saw 11,000 visits on the launch day alone. Celebrities, social media influencers and politicians endorsed the campaign; among them musician and political activist Serj Tankian, Ambassador of France in Armenia H.E. Mr. Jonathan Lacôte, and the First Lady of Armenia Mrs. Anna Hakobyan. The campaign then reached Armenia’s Parliament, where the issue of gender-biased sex selection was put to an extended discussion and MPs from various factions joined the cause. Eventually, Armenia’s Prime Minister addressed the issue and tasked relevant authorities to develop a complex proposal to end this harmful practice.