Operation Black Vote turns to Saatchi & Saatchi for hard-hitting EU referendum poster
Operation Black Vote (OBV) has turned to Saatchi and Saatchi to create its EU referendum campaign.
Instead of carrying political messaging, the powerful poster has been designed to encourage individuals from black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) communities to vote in the forthcoming poll on Britain's EU membership.
Featuring an Asian women being shouted at by an aggressive looking hooligan, the creative depicts the pair sitting on opposite sides of a see-saw to demonstrate the balance of their equivalent power. The poster runs under the strapline: 'A vote is vote.'
The campaign will run via digital billboard sites in London and Manchester, and will be supported by a social media campaign directing readers towards guides on how to register to vote.
All voters have until midnight on Tuesday 7 June to sign up to the electoral register, and OBV claims that 30 per cent of the four million BAME voters in the UK are yet to register for their polling card.
The organisation, which helps African British and Asian British communities claim their places in European politics, enlisted Saatchi and Saatchi for its last big push for the general election in 2015. Its 'Taking the Colour out of Britain' initiative featured a string of celebrities such as Tinie Tempah and Sol Campbell covered in white paint to represent the removal of colour and diversity from British politics.
"As a member of the BAME community, I understand better than most why mainstream political campaigning fails to cut through with this audience," said Magnus Djaba, chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi London
"This campaign turns its back on the usual political posturing and talks to the BAME community in a language we understand.”
Simon Woolley, director of OBV, said: "Perhaps the greatest thing about democracy is that one person’s vote has no more value than another person: A vote is a vote.
"With some Black and minority ethnic communities still unlikely to be registered to vote we need to change their mind. These potential voters could easily decide one of the biggest questions of the last three decades - whether we remain in the EU or leave.”