Title	INVISIBLE PETITIONS
Brand	WE WILL STOP FEMICIDE PLATFORM
Product/Service	SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Category	A06. Not-for-profit / Charity / Government
Entrant	WE WILL STOP FEMICIDE PLATFORM İstanbul, TURKEY
Idea Creation	TBWA\ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Name	Company	Position
İlkay Gürpinar	TBWA\İstanbul	CCO
Volkan Karakasoglu	Tbwa Istanbul	Executive Creative Director
Eser Yazıcı	TBWA\Istanbul	Creative Director
Onder Dundar	Tbwa Istanbul	Creative Group Head
Cantekin Güngör	TBWA\İstanbul	Creative Group Head
Ece Aktürk	TBWA\İstanbul	Art Director
Ela Bilgisel	TBWA\Istanbul	Deputy Managing Director
Yekta Öncel	TBWA\İstanbul	Brand Director
Katya Atat	TBWA\İstanbul	Brand Manager
Toygun Yilmazer	TBWA\İstanbul	CSO
Tansu Aktürk	TBWA\İstanbul	Agency Producer

Why is this work relevant for PR?

This work is relevant for PR as it sets out to transform public stance on a crucial social issue and succeeds in influencing public opinion with its narrative for change.

Background

On March 20th, Turkey withdrew from the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention, which prevents women from domestic violence. This decision was met with protests in Turkey. Because Turkey suffered greatly from violence against women. 409 women were killed in 2020 alone. Most of these women had written petitions to the State Prosecution Office asking for protection against domestic violence. Over and over again. Some wrote 9 times, some 36 times, even 60 times. Each time they were ignored by the authorites and eventually murdered by domestic violence.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

A real petition of a woman who ask for protection has been enlarged to the size of a building with the headline taken from her own words: “I don’t want to die.” placed in prominent out of home advertising locations for both the authorities and people to see the brutal reality.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

Women who suffered from domestic violence did the very best they could. They reached out to autorities, with numerous handwritten petitions, describing their suffering and pleaing for help. Unfortunately, they were ignored, over and over again. Being ignored led to their murder, therefore we had to find a way to make these petitions unignorable. The problem was mainly a visibility problem, so the solution had to make it impossible for the authorities and those who are unaware of the severity of the problem to look the other way.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

The real petition was shown on an apartment in the Zincirlikuyu neighborhood, a prime location in Istanbul. It was taken down by force within 12 hours, although it has one week media buying. After it made national news across Turkey and was shared by thousands of regular people and celebrities on social media. Opposition municipalities are picking up the cause and hanging the same outdoor for free on many buildings within their neighborhoods all over Turkey.

List the results (30% of vote)

Invisible Petitions went viral within hours, shared by millions. 12 hours later, it was removed by the authorities. However, this sparked the crowds even more and Invisible Petitions turned into a social movement. The outdoor became a motto visual for masses. Invisible Petitions created its own media as people created posters, t-shirts, social media filters, audio messages and artwork. Later the opposition municipalities all around Turkey joined the movement by displaying the outdoor for free. “I don’t want to die” outdoor became the most shared and cult visual image in the recent years in Turkey. More than 13.000 people downloaded the petition via the link at the Instagram Story and hung the poster to their windows, balconies, cars, tshirts. Then many of them posted these on their social media accounts. 263 million media impression, 6 million in earned media. Most importantly, it increased the support of Istanbul Convention from 39.5%. to 53.4%.