SWEDEN — Fake news, fast news and filter bubbles are some of the biggest challenges rampant in today’s media landscape, especially with the rise of social media and real-time posting. This creates a narrow and twisted view of the world masked with biases upon biases, and glaring prejudices that fail to let the truth shine through.
Stampen Media decided to tackle this issue by going straight to its very core before it creates even bigger repercussions in society. Created by agency Stendahls, “Visible Thought” is a social experiment in the middle of the busy streets of Gothenburg, Sweden that aimed to shine a light on the prejudices people have against complete strangers and how this behavior inevitably leads to polarisation among communities.
The campaign invited people off the street to sit down on a chair placed in the middle of a shop-window, exposed both to passers-by and people watching in online. Strangers were then able to label the person inside by answering a set of questions about them, without actually knowing anything apart from their appearance.
The answers were projected in real time in the shop window and online — showing just how quick people are to judge despite knowing so little.
The goal of the campaign was to start conversations around prejudice and to encourage people to want to get to know one another, outside of their own bubble. If we can make people realise that we all carry prejudice, we can also increase tolerance for what is considered different. And that, as Stampen Media believes, is the start of people seeking to know the truth behind mere facades — a vital element at the very heart of journalism.
CREDITS:
Client: Stampen Media, Sweden
Agency: Stendahls, Gothenburg, Sweden
