James Sadler Executive Creative Director

ABOUT

It’s estimated that 1 in 5 cotton items in the world are produced using Uyghur forced labor in prison camps in Xinjiang, China. To raise awareness of the fashion industry’s ties to the problem, the Human Rights Foundation hijacked one of the year’s biggest clothing drops and turned a captive audience into supporters for our cause. When posters for Yeezy X Gap’s new apparel launch appeared around NYC showing nothing more than a blue puffer jacket and a QR code, people rushed to open the link and buy the item. It sold out in hours, and an audience of hopeful shoppers and fashion fans eagerly awaited the next drop. Knowing people were now actively looking out for more posters, we acted fast to turn the hype into eyes on the problem. Within days, we put up new posters mimicking the style – where we replaced the isolated, blue jacket with an isolated, blue prison jumpsuit (the exact same kind worn by Uyghurs in captivity). Believing it was the next drop, Yeezy fans scrambled to scan our QR code. This time, instead of reaching the Gap’s online store, shoppers were taken to a landing page that educated them on the problem as well as offered them ways to act – like leading them to shop with brands that had eradicated Uyghur forced labor from their supply chain and signing a petition to be sent to world governments. The campaign saw a dramatic increase in awareness. Most notably, a 631% spike in visits to the campaign website over 72 hours, over 91K social media impressions, and upwards of 7.15 million earned media impressions. And, we even fooled Reddit users into speculating on the new item (and inadvertently sharing our message along the way).

AWARDS

OneShow

MADEIT CREDITS

  • Human Rights FoundationClient
  • Alexis BronstorphChief Creative Officer
  • Céline Assaf BoustaniPresident
  • Céline AssafBoustaniPresident
  • Connor BrezinskyDeveloper
  • Connor BrezinskyDeveloper
  • Dom DesmondArt Director
  • Dom DesmondArt Director
  • Emily KozniukGroup Account Director
  • Emily KozniukGroup Account Director
  • James SadlerExecutive Creative Director
  • Jeph MaystruckDeveloper
  • Jeph MaystruckProject Manager
  • Kelsey HorneChief Creative Officer
  • Kelsey HorneChief Creative Officer
  • Lizzie DabousStrategy Director
  • Lizzie DabousStrategy Director
  • Mariana BernandezCreative Director
  • Mariana BernandezCreative Director
  • Michael HouldsworthCreative Director / Writer
  • Michael HouldsworthCreative Director
  • Ruan vanGendAccount Director
  • TaxiAgency
  • Tim PelzDirector of Product Operations
  • Tim PelzDirector of Production
  • * Tasha ThomasArt Director
  • * The One Show
  • * Ruan Van GendAccount Director
  • * Jenny WangSenior Strategy & Research Associate
  • * James SadlerExecutive Creative Director

Uncomfortable Truth

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