The Google Map Demonstration
Amnesty International Turkey
Issue 31 | June 2014
Agency
Herezie and Angstrom
Creative Team
Herezie Creative Director Andrea Stillacci Herezie Copywriter Jean-Laurent Py Herezie Art Director Sebastien Boutebel
Production Team
Angstrom Art Director Se´bastien Jaloux Herezie Digital Project Manager Renaud Fouilleul Angstrom Production Manager Franck Bre´us Angstrom Web Development Partners Bertrand Tronsson Ke´vin Mastini
Date
August 2013
Background
In the summer of 2013, Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, became the crucible for weeks of protest against Government plans to build over Taksim Gezi Park.
On June 15th, Gezi Park was cleared by riot police. There were five deaths and 8,000 injuries. Police arrested 5,000 people, many at random.
Idea
The idea was to let ordinary citizens get back on Taksim Square to protest peacefully. Virtually. Backontaksim.org was the first protest to be organized on Google maps. In itself it was a protest against police intimidation and a demand for justice.
Protesters on the website could also share their protest on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
Results
Despite the Government's threats against social network users and the hacking of the website twice, backontaksim.org received over 40,000 visits and managed to create a demonstration involving more than 6,000 protesters. Also, people could sign a petition demanding that the prime minister end the violence against demonstrators. 4,900 signatures have been recorded. The website is still online. The virtual protest too.
Our Thoughts
Google maps have been used inventively by a handful of agencies. DDB Paris raced MINIs in them (Directory 23), Proximity Argentina found swimming pool owners through them (Directory
8) and this is every bit as clever. The ease with which you can register your protest makes the violence all the more shocking because it was so unnecessary.
My one problem is with the numbers. There could be so many more signatories if client or agency had spent a little bit of money to seed the idea properly. Even great ideas need help getting noticed these days.