Amnesty International has managed, rather cleverly, to highlight an issue that vexes them without even resorting to an official advertising campaign.
Amnesty's French offices commissioned TBWA to create a series of adverts highlighting China's alleged human rights abuses, in the run up to the Olympics.
The adverts included images of a man being pushed headfirst into a swimming pool, a policeman walking away from a man who has been shot while lashed to an archery target and a woman chained to a dumbbell in the colours of the Olympic rings.
The tag line is:
"After the Olympic Games, the fight for human rights must go on."
Amnesty in the end decided never to show them, because they were too graphic. However, they were entered for a website competition and inevitably ended up circulating on the web even crossing the Great Firewall of China.
The adverts, despite never being officially shown, have caused a huge amount of controversy in China and resulted in a large amount of publicity for Amnesty.
There is one more irony here.
TBWA, which produced the advertisements, also put together a series of adverts aimed at the Chinese Olympics market, including a series for Adidas featuring local athletes and their fans.
Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com
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Showing posts with label amnesty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amnesty. Show all posts
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Monday, April 30, 2007
Olympic Catalyst for Abuse
Amnesty International has issued a report warning that as China prepares to host the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the preparations are in fact acting as a "catalyst" for worsening abuses of human rights.
Amnesty notes that there is now an extensive use of detention-without-trial by police, and an increase in the persecution of civil-rights activists.
Amnesty also notes that new methods are being deployed to rein in the domestic media and censor the internet.
They ask that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) should raise the issue with the Chinese government.
"The IOC cannot want an Olympics that is tainted with human rights abuses....the Olympics is apparently acting as a catalyst to extend the use of detention without trial".
China has not yet responded to the report. However, in the past it has stated that it is fulfilling all the commitments made in its bid for the games and has accused Amnesty of being biased against the Chinese government.
Giselle Davies, an IOC spokeswoman, said that the governing body would "want to take the time to digest it before making any further reaction".
Amnesty may do well to remember that the pace of economic and social change in China needs to be managed with care, lest there be a total fragmentation of society. To blame the Olympics for everything that Amnesty disapproves of is maybe far too simplistic.
Amnesty notes that there is now an extensive use of detention-without-trial by police, and an increase in the persecution of civil-rights activists.
Amnesty also notes that new methods are being deployed to rein in the domestic media and censor the internet.
They ask that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) should raise the issue with the Chinese government.
"The IOC cannot want an Olympics that is tainted with human rights abuses....the Olympics is apparently acting as a catalyst to extend the use of detention without trial".
China has not yet responded to the report. However, in the past it has stated that it is fulfilling all the commitments made in its bid for the games and has accused Amnesty of being biased against the Chinese government.
Giselle Davies, an IOC spokeswoman, said that the governing body would "want to take the time to digest it before making any further reaction".
Amnesty may do well to remember that the pace of economic and social change in China needs to be managed with care, lest there be a total fragmentation of society. To blame the Olympics for everything that Amnesty disapproves of is maybe far too simplistic.
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