Gift of hope

Melbourne – Department store chain Myer has launched a highly emotive campaign that encourages customers to purchase items for women and children escaping family violence.

• Myer’s Give Registry functions like a gift registry, but products are donated to those in need
• ‘We have created a new way of charity giving,’ says Elle Bullen, senior creative at Clemenger BBDO, who worked on the video campaign

Working together with the Salvation Army and Elle Bullen and James Orr, senior creatives from advertising agency Clemenger BBDO, Myer evolved the concept of a gift registry into a philanthropic venture. The Give Registry encourages individuals to purchase everyday items to be donated to those escaping family violence.

The restrained campaign shows only quotidian household objects such as plates or an electric kettle, with the voiceover of a domestic abuse survivor explaining what it means to receive those items. The videos capture a sense of apprehension and vulnerability, but ultimately hope, as the survivor's voice cuts through the stillness.

‘The power of the videos lies in the juxtaposition,' Simon Lamplough, managing director of Clemenger BBDO, tells LS:N Global. In Towel, the woman's voice pauses and cracks as she realises she is safe. In Kettle, a survivor understands that she doesn’t have to fear the kettle will be used as a weapon and she doesn’t have to brace herself for the return of her abuser. She can simply enjoy her cup of tea – an unrealised luxury.