3 minute read
The fabric of our lives
How a fashion collection draws attention to one of the most essential human rights: freedom of speech.
Text Clint Waddell, DW Marketing
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Censorship has been used by dictators and autocrats for decades to limit access to free information, control the news and use it for their own propaganda. But how can the international press ensure that people in these countries are being offered an unbiased view of relevant events? The first issue is providing the tools.
DW has always worked to provide solutions to circumvent censorship and provide information to the people. For example, people in countries whose governments block or restrict access to independent news can access DW content securely and anonymously with the Tor Project. Over the past decade, DW has also been utilizing a censorship circumvention system called Psiphon, which works by using a network of different proxy servers.
The second issue is letting people know that these tools are available — and that’s where fashion comes in. By sewing a list of tools for censorship circumvention into each garment from our Uncensored Collection, we wanted to promote the topic and provide concrete solutions to an increasingly menacing problem.
The collection
The new Uncensored Collection was developed by DW in cooperation with Berlin-based designer Marco Scaiano. Along with highlighting an important message, each garment includes instructions for tools to help people circumvent censorship and access independent media — no matter where they are.
“Freedom is stitched into everything we do,” said Guido Baumhauer, Managing Director Distribution, Marketing and Technology. “The Uncensored Collection reflects our fight against censorship and our support for freedom of expression worldwide.”
The collection is being sold online to customers worldwide, with proceeds from sales going to support the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
How to circumvent censorship in two steps: 1. Scan QR code 2. Download the Tor Browser and enter the URL
The campaign
To ensure that our message was being heard, we worked on several different fronts to spread the word in different markets — and different languages. Along with digital and print ads, the campaign is also being promoted at airport terminals with flights leaving to countries like Iran, Russia, China, Ethiopia and Venezuela. On-air spots were produced and are being run on DW’s international TV channels. We also worked with influencers in each of our target regions to help carry the message to their followers on Instagram, YouTube and other social media channels.
The results
We had more than 10 million video views and 100 million impressions in the campaign’s first month alone. We used this campaign to isolate the issue in each of the target regions — and it worked. Free speech and censorship were hot topics on talk shows and in the comments sections on social media. And items from the Uncensored Collection were sent to customers worldwide.
