Synopsis:

Guilt Gifts Puppetry is the first theatre series where protagonists are actual toys donated by victims of domestic violence. Across eight episodes, it urged women in abusive relationships to never postpone reaching out for help.

Context:

Domestic violence had registered a surge in Romania during the global pandemic, as abusers spent more time in uninterrupted contact with their victims, and the ensuing economic crisis made things worse. Abusers use various types of gifts to buy the forgiveness of the victims so the latter would not report the abuse to the authorities or relatives. ANAIS Association, the leading NGO fighting against domestic abuse needed to raise awareness about this dangerous phenomenon and raise more funds to help victims.

Idea:

We decided to use actual guilt gifts and their real stories in the first theatre series dedicated to domestic violence. We collected stuffed toys from former victims of abuse and turned them into professional puppets. Choreographers, dancers, and projection mapping artists volunteered to bring the plays to life in immersive shows that transported viewers in 8 real-life scenarios of each evoking a different type of domestic abuse from emotional to physical. Famous Romanian actors gave each toy a distinctive voice. The first episode launched on Woman’s International Day and the campaign quickly took over the headlines. Inviting everyone to watch the plays for a small donation on the popular streaming platform Streamerse.

Results:

Leading mainstream channel PRIMA TV offered to cover the topic of each episode on primetime news. The coverage prompted leading auction house Artmark to help us auction the toys and raise further funding. The campaign generated a 790% increase in donations compared to the previous campaign, so ANAIS could extend their legal and phycological counseling services to more victims. Instrumental for the increase was the pay-per-view mechanic as the theatre plays registered 2.1 million views across all platforms. But the most important result was starting a nationwide conversation about the plague of domestic violence with 9 million media impressions.

ANAIS Association - Guilt Gifts Puppetry

CREDITS

Gold partners