It’s humbling to see insults you might have hurled or witnessed, in the cold light of day. South Western Railway (SWR) agency, St Luke’s, is giving insults hurled by customers at SWR staff back for them to see, in a campaign to stop verbal abuse.
The OOH campaign, Abuse stays with our staff, features real verbal abuse to which SWR workers have been subjected. It will run on all owned poster sites across the SWR network in the south and south-west of England from March 4.
St Luke’s brief was to encourage non-abusive behaviour towards SWR colleagues and, in doing so, alleviate the long-term impact insulting words have on them. It followed research into the experiences of SWR colleagues, where workers shared stories of the abuse they had received and how it has affected them and their lives.
The creative captures moments of everyday life, for example making a cup of tea, preparing soup, taking a shower, and returning home from work, shot through a POV lens. It also features the abusive words that the protagonists have had thrown at them at work, including phrases such as “you absolute moron”, “you dumb cow”, and “you stupid old fool”.
The visual representation highlights how harsh words said to staff can creep up on them and stay with them for a long time afterwards.
Peter Williams, customer & commercial director at South Western Railway, commented, “As frontline workers, our colleagues can unfortunately often be the receivers of verbal abuse from agitated customers. This campaign uses powerful imagery to educate people about how colleagues endure the lingering emotional damage of the abuse they receive in their everyday life. We want people to think before they take their agitation out on colleagues, and also remind them to always be kind.”
Richard Denney, joint CCO at St Luke’s, added, “People travel by train for a variety of reasons and sometimes when they are feeling stressed or are wrapped up in their own problems, they don’t always realise that what for them is a throwaway comment said in a moment of frustration can really hurt someone. The aim of this campaign is to make people stop and think about how their words can affect others.”
Credits:
Client: South Western Railway
Customer & Commercial Director: Peter Williams
Senior Campaigns Manager: Ian Humphreys
Campaigns Manager: Alexandra Baker
Creative Agency: St Luke’s
Joint Chief Creative Officer: Richard Denney
Head of Art & Design: Pete Mould
Creative Team: Jord Morris & Danny Jones
Creative Producer: Christine Sibthorp
Chief Strategy Officer: Dan Hulse
Business Director: Barnaby Kelly
Account Director: Naomi Hollowday
Photographer: Stephen Ambrose
Retouching: Richard Green
