Unconventional campaign on domestic violence in Romania, from Sensiblu and Geometry Global

Cristina Blanaru Ads, Creativity, CSR

Sensiblu Foundation aims to attract public awareness when it comes of domestic violence with a new unconventional campaign created by Geometry Global Bucharest. Conceived as an insert in women’ magazines, it generates intrigue since the first touch: what seems to be a commercial for a luxury perfume is transforming into a strong alarm signal regarding physical abuse in Romania. This campaign comes 3 years after the agency created, for the same client, the awareness campaign “No slap on March 8th”.

HWN_Visual_Coef_0,7
Campaign’s poster

The advertorial inserted by Sensiblu Foundation within women’ magazines looks like a luxury perfume commercial and is accompanied by a sample. The message asks women to test the perfume by rubbing it on their ankle, on a pre-defined surface. When they do that gesture – an usual one for magazine readers – a violet paint colors the skin, simulating a bruise familiar to women constantly abused by their life partners. The “Test the perfume” message is now replaced by info on how Sensiblu Foundation can support and help domestic violence’s victims.

With the message “The bruise vanishes, the trauma stays”, the Sensiblu campaign aims to reach both to possible victims of domestic violence, to whom it offers a way to ask for help, and with people living around those victims, who can pass forward the support message.

Board campaign

In our entire communication against domestic violence for Sensiblu Foundation, we are trying to eliminate the preconception that the domestic violence happens only among uneducated people, only at the country-side, far away from us, the civilized ones. Unfortunately, this phenomena is closer and far more spread than we imagine. That is why our campaigns, including this one, were intrusive, entered with the shoes on in public’s lives, trying to get out this phenomena from the area of quiet acceptance. Now we chose the strongest form of violence, physical abuse, and we replicated its direct effects. We wanted everything to be as in your face as possible

Razvan Ludu,

Senior Art Director, Geometry Global.

With this campaign, we want for those that already felt “the perfume” of domestic violence within their home to come towards us, and those who touch it for the first time in magazines to help pass forward the message. (…)

Cristina Horia,

Executive Director Sensiblu Foundation 

The teams working on the campaign included

  • Geometry Global: Razvan Ludu (Sr. Art Director), Sorana Somesan (Sr. Copywriter), Florina Alexandru (Sr.Art Director), Mihai Fetcu (Creative Director), Ada Iftodi (Account Manager), Mihai Draghici (Account Manager), Patricia Arbanas (Group Account Director).
  • Sensiblu Foundation: Cristina Horia (Executive Director), Veronica Dobre (PR Manager).

Sensiblu Foundation is a foundation set up in 2002 by Sensiblu, the biggest pharma chain in Romania. From the beginning, the foundation got involved in supporting women and children victims of domestic violence with its free services for social, psychological and juridical counseling and by offering them housing in a temporary shelter. Since 2002, around 4,500 women and children victims of domestic violence benefited of the counseling services and over 180 people were hosted in the shelter.