Home Office reworks Brixton chicken shop packaging in #KnifeFree push
As part of the next stage of its #KnifeFree campaign, the Home Office has reworked the packaging of a Brixton chicken shop to encourage young people to steer away from knife crime.
Morley Chicken box for Home Office #KnifeFree campaign
The second phase of the #KnifeFree campaign has seen the Home Office tailor its media buy around communities and places in London that its target 10-21-year-old audience frequent.
As part of this strategy, the Home Office teamed up with All City Media Solutions (ACMS) and the renowned South London chicken franchise, Morley's. ACMS replaced the outlet's iconic red box with black boxes with #KnifeFree written on the lids.
The Morley #KnifeFree campaign distributed 20,000 chicken boxes to 15 locations; 14 in South London and one in Manchester.
Working with London shop FCB Inferno, the government has also produced out-of-home posters, created to look like flyposting, as well as stickers that act as kitemarks for local individuals and businesses supporting the movement.
As part of the #KnifeFree campaign, FCB Inferno also launched a series of other activations to educate 10 to 21-year-olds on the dangers of carrying knives.
Two films have been created to bring the initiative to life. 'We are #KnifeFree' is directed by Amy Becker-Burnett, who said she wanted show a set of true stories of young men and women who now live without weapons.
The accounts tell of lives deeply affected by knife crime and the positive impact living without a knife has had. They aim to inspire and empower those who are most at risk of knife-related violence.
The next wave of the national #KnifeFree advertising campaign features TV, radio, social and national OOH, as well as digital via apps and platforms including Spotify, Dax, Deezer, Teads, Twitch, and Venatus.
Additionally, to stress how early intervention can help tackle the root causes of violent crime, the Home Office has engaged a grassroots advocate programme in local communities, which will provide young people with the skills and resilience needed to lead productive lives free from violence.
Focusing on areas most troubled by knife crime, the government has partnered with youth experts Catch 22 and is working with Community Links to deliver and train local advocates. This is a pilot that will be reviewed over the summer.
FCB Inferno's executive vice president, Sharon Jiggins, said: “The insight work carried out by the Home Office and ourselves demonstrated young people carry knives for a variety of reasons including fear, a false sense of protection and peer pressure.
"Our campaign recognises that the decision not to carry a knife can feel hugely daunting. Hence our approach to showcase the stories where role models within communities have provided these vulnerable young people with the support and encouragement they’ve needed to stop carrying.
"By directing our audience to seek out the help of these mentors we are seeing how powerful harnessing the community can be in tackling this important issue”.
Despite falling for several years, since 2014 knife crime in England and Wales has been on the rise, with just under 40,000 offences recorded last year.
