ABOUT

Northern Ireland is a country with a unique set of social challenges stemming from the conflict known as ‘The Troubles’, which blighted the region from the late 1960s to the early 1990s.

At the beginning of The Troubles, ‘no-go’ areas were self-imposed in the staunchly Republican/ Nationalist housing estates, by the IRA, as the community rejected the authority and legitimacy of the British Government, the British Army and the RUC (The police force - Royal Ulster Constabulary, now the Police Service of Northern Ireland). This was mirrored by loyalist paramilitary organisations.

Paramilitaries began to fill the ‘policing’ vacuum that resulted, marking the beginning of the coercive control of paramilitaries in Northern Ireland communities.

The Financial Control Challenge: Illegal money lending is a growing issue across the whole of the UK, but in Northern Ireland it is another tactic for paramilitary organisations to exert their control of communities and take advantage of the very people they claim to protect.

“Police have warned entire streets in Northern Ireland are in debt to paramilitary gangs running moneylending
operations.” BBC, 15 June 2021

Unfortunately, it is a largely unreported crime due to its perception within the affected neighbourhoods. This control is, in effect, a normal, accepted way of life. The most vulnerable people and those in need (whether through poverty, addiction, mental health issues, at crisis point) have no access to an alternative source of credit. They are, therefore, easy targets; easy to manipulate and easy to hook.

The lenders are seen as protectors of the community, citizens who look after their own, often friends and family, but as with all criminal activity it only serves to perpetuate their corrupt organisation’s control of those communities, and to
benefit their own lifestyle.

Add to this, the longer it goes on for an individual that has borrowed, the more shame, fear, pressure, stress, desperation, depression and other mental health issues, is experienced.

As that pressure mounts the psychology of poverty and scarcity dictates that the bandwidth needed to get out doesn’t exist, regardless of background, IQ, or abilities. This is an emotional and psychological challenge.


THE BRIEF AND APPROACH
The overarching objective of the campaign is to transform the acceptability and normalisation of paramilitary financial control into rejection, to reduce the problem at the source.

To gain deeper insight, Ardmore engaged with victims, community groups and charities offering support and help to those unfortunate enough to fall prey to these gangs, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and illegal money lenders, to uncover the motives, repercussions, and the unfortunate depths these scenarios can reach.

The truth is alarming. In some instances, people are using the paramilitary lenders as they would an ATM. We were told stories of people borrowing £20 for a fake tan, which reveals a frivolous disregard for the implications that shadow these ‘contracts’, through to people who are borrowing small amounts for essentials like basic food staples for their family.

This happens because the victims cannot access credit and in doing so identify themselves as vulnerable and perfect targets for these organisations. In many instances the illegal money lenders will be known to them or recommended by
friends and introduced as ‘someone who can help’.

However, the help quickly turns to control, as they are only interested in increasing the debt, prolonging it until it becomes evident it cannot be repaid. Once the victim’s finances are controlled and exhausted, they will be coerced into using their home to store criminal property like drugs and guns and put to work in selling drugs for the organisation, all manipulated under a threat of shame and violence.

The creative objective behind the campaign was to shift belief from:
“They’re doing me a favour. I can’t get this anywhere else (bank, credit card, doctor, family, Police). But I can get it sorted with them easy, today and I’ll pay them back.”

TO
“Paramilitaries are not interested in me paying. They want to exploit me and hold me forever in their debt.”

CONCEPT
“Through this campaign, we seek to show the real-world consequences of this plight on communities by telling the story of the devastating impact this has on an individual’s life, and tackle head on the lie that illegal money lenders are here
to help.” Paul Bowen, Executive Creative Director, Ardmore

The premise and idea behind the campaign is that vulnerable people often need loans to make ends meet. Paramilitaries prey on these people. Once a loan has been taken out, it must be paid back within a certain amount of time. Whenever this doesn’t happen, the threats and violence begin.

To effect change, the campaign needs to expose the frightening escalation of these situations so that potential victims understand the implications such a decision can have on them and their families’ lives.

EXECUTION
Research indicated that we would need a story that the audience would identify with and recognise as a reality in their community. Our ‘Deadline’ commercial tells the story of how a struggling single mum’s situation deteriorates rapidly once she borrows money from paramilitaries. We accentuated the escalation of the situation our character faces with a Sheppard Tone which continually builds the sense of dread and isolation. This build up is punctuated throughout by a ticking clock and repeating alarm which suggests both the passage of time and creates the sense of the looming deadline, which is a layered crescendo of SFX and verbal threats from our unseen money lender.

The impact of the campaign was deepened with a series of real-life interviews and access to support on the Ending The Harm website.

RESULTS
This is a new campaign, launched during the summer of 2021, and has therefore not undergone campaign tracking as yet.

However, before beginning production we tested the concept using System1’s Ad Test technology. During the testing the ‘Deadline’ commercial elicited intense negative emotions, namely sadness, anger and disgust, with a significantly
lower ‘neutral emotion’ score than the UK norm (12% vs. 44%).

In other words, it deeply affected the audience.

Second-by-second analysis revealed that it elicited this deep emotional response within a few seconds and continued throughout the ad, peaking with the threats of violence.

So far, the campaign, flighted across TV, VOD, Radio and Outdoor, has achieved 16.5m impressions.
It has already been recognised at an international level, winning a Kinsale Shark Creative Award in September 2021.

MADEIT CREDITS

  • DAMIAN BOYLANClient
Project featured: on 1st August 2022 Contributor:

The Gate London has been a Contributor since 25th November 2015.

Invite x3

ENDING THE HARM: ILLEGAL MONEY LENDING

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