Cyberbullying is insidious. And horribly persistent. More than 4 out of 10 French people say they have been victims of cyber-violence. The phenomenon particularly affects 18-24 year-olds, 87% of whom have experienced cyber harassment, LGBTQI+ people (85%), racialised people (71%) and women under 35 (65%). Source: Ipsos study “Cyberviolence and cyberharassment: victims’ experiences”.
Even Olympic athletes experience its nastiness.
Ogilvy Paris and Allianz France have created an anti-cyberbullying campaign for Safer Internet Day, that uses the spotlight on sport this year in advance of the upcoming the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It is also built on a French expression, “Le revers de la médaille”, that is similar to the English expression, “two sides to every coin.”
The campaign, Le revers de la médaille, tackles cyberbullying Allianz through the testimonies of eight Team Allianz athletes. While the glory days of sportsmen and women are well known, the insults and harassment they suffer during their careers are less so. Nor would anyone suspect that their family, friends and colleagues have faced internet bullying.
So the Allianz Olympic athletes disclose the most telling insults on social they or their peers have had to endure, engraved verbatim on the backs of their medals and displayed at a free exhibition in France staged to highlight the contrast between the prestige of these trophies and the denigration that athletes can face on social media in particular.
Le revers de la médaille features Clarisse Agbégnénou, double Olympic judo champion and six-time world champion; Antoine Adelisse, five-time French champion and European champion in Big Air (freestyle skiing); Oscar Burnham, 3rd in the world slalom championship (para-alpine skiing), French Paralympic Winter Games Team 2022; Carlota Dudek, French break dance champion 2021; Michaël Jérémiasz, former world No. 1 and Paralympic wheelchair tennis champion; Juliette Lacome, world junior surfing No. 3; Loïc Piétri, former world judo champion and member of the Rio 2016 Olympic squad; and Typhaine Soldé, handisport athletics, long jump, Vice-champion of France 2020, member of Team France for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
The campaign has also been posted on the sports-dedicated Instagram account, Le Vestiaire Allianz, since
February 2, and shared by influencers @manonlanza, @thegingerchloe and @6nissa, who immediately responded, as this is a subject that particularly touches them. In addition, Carlota Dudek and Typhaine Soldé will talk about their experiences of cyberbullying. These on-camera testimonials will provide an opportunity for them to react to comments from the public on the subject. The videos will be broadcast on the Le Vestiaire Allianz account in March.
“Athletes are often the target of harassment and insults of all kinds on social networks, which is the downside of their sporting success. Yet, these athletes are role models for the public. With this campaign, conceived with Ogilvy Paris, revealing their vulnerability to cyber harassment is a way of building trust with the public. With Paris 2024 just a few months away, Allianz France is exploring a clever way of passing the baton from the athlete to the individual through an increasingly worrying societal issue, which unfortunately affects more and more individuals,” explained Christophe Dépont, brand, advertising, social networks and partnerships director at Allianz France.
“Cyber harassment is an affliction which, tragically, often leads to another: that of silence. This courageous operation should act as a wake-up call to all victims and witnesses of cyberstalking, encouraging them to come forward rather than remain silent,” added Benjamin Bregeault, executive creative director at Ogilvy Paris.
Credits
Agency: Ogilvy Paris
President: Mathieu Plassard
President & Chief Creative Officer: Matthieu Elkaim
Executive Creative Director: Benjamin Bregeault
Art Director: Céline Mullier
Copywriter: Thibaut Grandon
Assistant art director: Lily Gachet-Thai
Editorial Director: Flore Charuel
Strategic Planner: Lucas Scotti
Business Partner: Romain Bruneau
Account Manager: Marjory Law
Account Executive: Felix Brugnon
Account Assistant: Sofiann Boutaib
Head of Production: Aurélie Appert
Social Media Account Manager: Estelle Foucqueteau
Influence Account Manager: Clara Carvalhais
Influence Account Executive: Stephie Medelice
PR Account Director: Fanny Hernandez, Sacha Lemaure
PR Account Executive: Lea Corblin, Clotilde Lechevalier
Client: Allianz France
Member of the Allianz France Executive Committee in charge of the Data, Engagement, Marketing and
Strategy Unit: Julien Martinez
Brand, Advertising, Social Networks and Partnerships Manager: Christophe Dépont
Brand and Advertising Manager: Laura Baudoin
Social Networks Manager: Julie Dremière
Social Media Manager Sport: Myriam Hannachi
Brand Campaign Manager: Elise Panabière
Advertising Manager: Hugo Perez
Press Relations Manager: Sandrine Pichavant
Press Relations Officer: Carla Leborgne Buttazzoni
