Our The Deadly Games campaign highlights real struggles in the shadow of the Olympics
Published: Jul 30, 2024 Reading time: 4 minutes
In partnership with communications agency VCCP, we launched a new campaign, The Deadly Games, to highlight atrocities worldwide as the public's attention turns to the year's biggest sporting event. Using the contrast between sporting events and life-and-death struggles, we want to draw attention to human rights issues and support our SOS Freedom fundraising for projects in the countries concerned.
'The Deadly Games' campaign aims to draw attention to the fact that while the eyes of the world are now on the 33rd Olympic Games, there is much bloodier competition in some participating countries. In the weeks when people cheer on their favourite athletes competing for medals, atrocities occur in many countries showcasing their sporting prowess. The continuous coverage of the Games will overshadow these events. With our campaign, we want to draw public attention to these sufferings, remind the public that they deserve the same attention, and support our SOS Freedom fundraising campaign.
Competition for medals vs. struggle for survival
The campaign is based on a provocative idea: what if the same disciplines we see in the Olympics were to appear in the everyday lives of our fellow citizens? The 100m sprint is a race for survival while crossing borders and seeking asylum. Wrestling is a struggle against authority that must be faced by those who wish to protest peacefully. Moreover, these events are often often more complex than those for which medals are awarded in Paris.
The campaign includes a reactionary content strategy in a sporting spirit. In the form of scores and leaderboards, it will track events in the countries where we operate as they compete for medals. Once the campaign is over, we plan to work with local artists to design and produce medals for the "winners" of The Deadly Games.
We are not criticising sports or athletes
The countries that we criticise in the campaign use the participation of athletes in international sporting events to legitimise their regimes, which suppress the human rights of their citizens. Sports, particularly international sports, serve as a tool for many dictators. This practice is known as "Sportswashing", which is when a government attempts to improve their reputation, especially amid scandals or controversies, through athletic events.
Our campaign is not a criticism of athletes or the idea of sports tournaments but of their abuse by dictators and autocrats. We criticise dictatorial regimes that use sport as a tool of influence to legitimise their regimes. It is they who force athletes to become part of the regime's propaganda to be allowed to compete at all.
"We draw attention to the importance of human rights"
The campaign was prepared pro-bono by the communication agency VCCP, an affiliate of the international network VCCP Group.
Miguel Molina, creative leader of the project for VCCP, says, "The project was born out of the need to use our voice and resources to shine a light on issues that are important to us: human rights and equality. We are delighted to continue raising important issues with People in Need." The VCCP agency created the campaign M1nuta silence for us in 2022, which condemned World Cup host Qatar's human rights abuses.
For authentic representation, the campaign creators teamed up with photojournalists from around the world. They worked closely with photographers Carlos Herrera from Nicaragua and Edu Ponces from Spain to select the images. The campaign will run on social media, in print, and online until mid-August.
For more information about the campaign, visit www.thedeadlygames.com.
