With Olympic endeavours seizing attention, VCCP Prague and Czech NGO, People in Need, have seized the moment to launch The Deadly Games, to focus attention on conflict and human rights abuses in countries where it currently operates.
The Deadly Games contrasts sporting clashes at the Olympic Games with genuine life and death conflict to draw attention to human rights and justice and to support fundraising for People in Need projects in the countries it operates in. It aims to draw public attention to the real-life atrocities in the countries it operates in that are overshadowed by coverage of sporting achievement, to remind people that these events deserve the same focus at this time, and to drive fundraising for its projects.
The campaign is built on a provocation – what if the same disciplines we see at the Olympic Games were to appear in the everyday lives of our fellow citizens around the world? The 100m sprint is a race for survival while crossing borders and seeking asylum. Wrestling is a struggle against authority in order to protest peacefully.
Nadiia Ivanova, director of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, stated, “For more than 25 years, People in Need has been building close partnerships in 20 countries with activists and journalists who are trying to resist regimes that do not hesitate to use brutal force against their own citizens. We wanted to take the opportunity to highlight human rights violations, because dictators and autocrats like to use the big sporting events that were created to promote peace, to legitimise their brutal regimes instead.”
The campaign is running across social, print and digital throughout the Olympics
For an authentic look, VCCP Prague and global content creation studio, Girl&Bear Prague, worked with photojournalists from around the world including Carlos Herrera from Nicaragua and Edu Ponces from Spain, to select the images.
The images are captioned with the names of Olympic sports and the caption, “Many countries around the world are forcing their people to take part in a much bloodier competition.”
The Deadly Games campaign was developed on a pro bono basis and will be supported by a reactive content strategy framed around sporting achievement. It will track events in the countries where People in Need operates while these countries are fighting for medals and produce scores and rankings. After the campaign ends, People in Need will work with local artists to design and produce medals for the “winners” of The Deadly Games.
Miguel Molina, senior creative at VCCP Prague, commented, “The project was born out of the desire to use our voice and resources to shine a light on issues that are important to us: human rights and equality. We are extremely happy to continue raising important issues with People in Need.”
Credits:
Client: People In Need
Creative Agency: VCCP Prague
Executive Creative Director: Dejan Štajnberger
Creative Director: Marek Farkas
Senior Creative: Miguel Molina
Art Director: Barbora Ivánová
Junior Director: Anna Váchová
Online Strategist: Anna Nguyen
Business Director: Ondřej Fiala
Account Director: Aneta Záhoříková
Senior Account Manager: Markéta Kadeřábková
Production: Girl&Bear Prague
Head of Design: Lluis Rotger
Senior Designer: Miguel Silgado
Interactive Designer/Developer: Štěpán Ryšavý
Senior Producer: Ruben Ter-Akopow
Artworker: Jiří Velan
Photographers: Carlos Herrera & Edu Ponces
VCCP Prague previously created the award-winning M1nute of Silence campaign for People in Need in 2022, condemning human rights abuse during Qatar’s hosting of the football World Cup.
