Adaily's Year of Brilliance #17: Swap Roles
This week, we explore campaigns that take comparison to the extreme by using Swap Roles. This powerful technique fosters empathy by making one group experience the reality of another, often to highlight injustice or change perspectives. The key is the dramatic insight gained when people are forced to walk in another's shoes. See more in Adaily here.
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1. The Social Swap • Heineken
Edelman London • 2024 • Alcoholic drinks - beer • United Kingdom • Europe
Campaign Summary:
Heineken tackled gender bias in football by having male and female pundits, Gary Neville and Jill Scott, literally swap social media accounts to demonstrate the disproportionate sexist abuse female pundits receive. This social stunt aimed to expose the issue and advocate for a more inclusive environment.
The campaign was highly successful, generating 1.4B impressions and contributing to an 8% increase in women joining football conversations online.
2. Through Their Eyes • Maybelline
Hero • 2023 • Beauty • Australia • Oceania
Campaign Summary:
Maybelline, with mental health service ReachOut, used a tech-enabled role swap to demonstrate online abuse, having two prominent male gamers use voice-changing software to play as women. This allowed them to experience the harassment female gamers face firsthand, aiming to build empathy among male players.
The film documenting their experience was broadcast by Twitch streamers to millions, successfully raising awareness and sparking conversation about creating a safer gaming environment.
3. #SaveRalph • Humane Society International
Vero • 2022 • NGO - animals • Cross-country • Global
Campaign Summary:
HSI's "#SaveRalph" campaign used a stop-motion animated film to metaphorically swap the audience's role with that of a test animal, telling the story from the rabbit's perspective. This approach aimed to build empathy by forcing viewers to experience the cruelty of cosmetic animal testing firsthand.
The powerful narrative generated massive global reach (56M+ TikTok views), significant PR value ($2.1M+), and inspired widespread conversation and influencer endorsement.
4. The Refugee Jatoba • Articulation Of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil
Africa Sao Paulo • 2022 • NGO - equality • Brazil • LATAM
Campaign Summary:
This campaign highlighted Amazon deforestation through a highly creative, metaphorical role swap: requesting official asylum for a Jatobá tree, treating a piece of nature like a human refugee. By sending asylum requests to 100+ embassies, the initiative forced a perspective shift on environmental threats.
The campaign garnered global attention, an invitation to COP-26, and a commitment from the Brazilian government to reduce illegal deforestation by 2028.
5. Oppressions Offset • Civil Rights Defenders
Prime Weber Shandwick Stockholm • 2022 • NGO - politics • Sweden • Europe
Campaign Summary:
Civil Rights Defenders' "Oppression Offset" used an interactive tool to facilitate a conceptual role swap, forcing travelers to confront how their choices support autocratic regimes. This approach aimed to spark debate on ethical travel by linking tourism to its real-world consequences.
The initiative became the organization's most shared campaign ever, received global coverage, and started industry negotiations.
Quick Takeaways: Swap Roles
Facilitate a Literal Swap: The most direct use of this tool is a literal exchange, like Heineken having male and female pundits swap social media accounts to expose differing realities. Think: Who are two groups with vastly different experiences that you could get to literally switch places or platforms for a day?
Use Technology to Simulate the Experience: Let your audience walk in another's shoes through technology. Maybelline used voice-changers to simulate the female gamer experience for men. Think: What technology (AR, VR, filters, voice-changers) could let your audience experience another's perspective in a powerful way?
Swap Metaphorically for Emotional Impact: Tell a story from an unexpected point of view, like HSI did with #SaveRalph, to build empathy for a non-human or voiceless group. Think: What non-human or conceptual entity (an animal, a tree, an object) could you place in a human role to reframe a complex issue?
Connect Privileged Actions to Consequences: Create a tool or experience that makes one group see the direct consequences of their actions on another, like the "Oppressions Offset" calculator did for travelers. Think: How can you create a direct link that shows how a privileged group's everyday choice impacts an underprivileged group's reality?
About Adaily Inspiration
Adaily Inspiration is your weekly dose of creative fuel. Each Tuesday, we explore a powerful creative thinking tool from the Deck of Brilliance (a collection of 52 methods by Juggi Ramakrishnan and Todd McCracken). We break down the tool, show you how to apply it to your marketing, and analyze five award-winning campaigns from the Adaily database that demonstrate its effectiveness. Our goal is to help you generate breakthrough ideas and create campaigns that truly resonate.
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Disclaimer: All campaign descriptions in this post are AI-generated, based on real-life descriptions provided by the authors.
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