Leo Burnett France’s human billboard shows how racism gets under your skin

A human billboard? It’s a brilliant idea, although it’s not Leo Burnett France’s. Forsman & Bodenfors turned Paris-Saint-Germain striker, Zlatan Ibrahimović, into the poster for the UN’s World Food Programme campaign, #805millionnames, in February 2015.

F&B creates campaign on Zlatan Ibrahimović (literally, on)

Leo Burnett France and le CRAN, an organisation dedicated to combating the discrimination faced by black populations in France, tattooed a man in racist insults – and sent him out onto the streets of Paris – as an awareness campaign against racism following the first round of French presidential elections.

The aim of the stunt was to remind the French that racist insults leave lasting marks that are impossible to forget.

The insults were authentic. Leo Burnett collected them from famous and everyday people who have experienced racist insults that they’ve never forgotten. The insults were gathered by social media, individual interviews and audio testimonies and included those slung at TV journalists, Harry Roselmack and Audrey Pulvar.

On April 24, with his torso covered in insults, the human billboard arrived at la Place de La République at 10am and began distributing leaflets explaining the campaign message to passers-by. This was supported by a digital campaign from April 22 on social media and a website.

“With this campaign, #jeffaceleracisme, we want to alert the French to racist insults, the impact of which is often underestimated,” explained Louis Georges Tin, president of le CRAN.