The Demotivation Letter
Innocence en Danger
Issue 56 | September 2020
Agency
Babel
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director Laurent Nuyen Creative Director Jean-Laurent Py, Cédric Auzannet Copywriter Nicolas Dubois Art Directors Kimdary Yin, Adrien Millot
Production Team
Head of TV Jeanne Halfon TV Producer Oriana Berzig
Date
November 2019
Background
Innocence in Danger wanted to reach companies and make them realise that they should be a part of the fight for child protection. Since traditional awareness campaigns didn’t have much impact on them, the idea was to not talk about abused children but about the traumatised adults, the traumatised employees, they can become.
Idea
A character was created to personify millions of victims, Julien Miraute. He applied for jobs both online and offline by writing a demotivating letter. He wrote, “I would be a poor candidate for the job.
I don’t trust people; I leave meetings suddenly; I lock myself in my office; I find listening to people difficult.” He explained, “I owe all this to a close family member who abused me when I was eight years old.” The letter was sent to the HR representatives of 100 companies.
Results
With a total budget of just €4000 euros, the campaign generated PR that led to a 3,000% increase of traffic to the website. Donations rose 35% and five companies actually responded to the letter, in order to work closely with the association on behalf of their potential affected employees.
Our Thoughts
The great Howard Gossage (read Steve Harrison’s biography of him, “Changing the World – the Only Fit Occupation for a Grown Man”) once wrote, “People will read what interests them and occasionally that may be an advertisement.” Similarly, people will read a letter if it is interesting. And this one is, the self-laceration of a tortured soul, with the explanation in the last paragraph. It is hard not to feel the pain.