KOLKATA, INDIA — Studies show that human traffickers operate through sophisticated supply chains. Victims find themselves caught in a horrific journey, kicked on from handler to handler. A cruel passing game perfected by its perpetrators, making it almost impossible to find and rescue them. Most people are oblivious to the operations of human traffickers. More importantly, they are unaware that simple human intervention can help “snap the supply chain” and lead to the rescue and rehabilitation of victims. This allows the cruel criminal industry to thrive unchecked.
To address this issue and raise awareness among the general public, Wunderman Thompson India has collaborated with Sanlaap, a Kolkata-based NGO that rescues and rehabilitates trafficking survivors, to create “Snap The Supply Chain,” an outdoor poster campaign integrated with AR technology to captivate and engage with audiences, taking them along a journey of realization, from problem to solution.
Since traffickers view their victims lives as something to be played with, their supply chains were represented as a football formation, an intricate, elaborate art style juxtaposing the victim’s journey from a safe environment into the hands of evildoers. As the eye travels along the design, the victim’s story unravels, and more details are revealed. The more time spent decoding every detail, the deeper the connection with the viewer.
When the posters are scanned using an AR app, the technology brought the artwork to life on their phone screens, engaging audiences by showcasing the supply chains and the victim’s horrific journey in much more detail. That’s when audiences discover that they can intervene and help snap the supply chain. An interactive feature encourages audiences to tap. Doing so reveals a reversed version where the negative characters flip into good ones, and the victim’s story reverses from the hands of traffickers into the love and care of rehabilitation.
These posters and their embedded AR experiences clearly highlighted the fact that any kind of human intervention, like a simple phone call to Sanlaap, can snap the supply chain for good and save millions of women out there.
Pinaki Ranjan Sinha, Executive Director, SANLAAP, had this to say: “Human trafficking in all its forms is a direct attack on an individual’s rights, respect, and dignity. This app is the first step toward upgrading advocacy to the next level. What a great way to create and raise awareness about this heinous act.”
Priya Shivakumar, Senior National Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson India, explains: “With every piece of news headlining some crime or the other against humanity, people have become, at worst apathetic and at best resigned to the evil that goes on unchecked in the world. We wanted the “Snap the Chain” campaign to be a way to not just shed light on the crime, but by making people engage with it through AR, feel involved with how it plays with unsuspecting lives and empower them to feel like they could be a part of the solution. An important message to convey with something like Human Trafficking, where any clue or intervention at any level can make all the difference. Where a life saved also means hope renewed.”
Rahul Bhojraj, AVP & Senior Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson India, concludes: “Human Trafficking is one of the most heinous crimes against humanity, as we all know. But we discovered another interesting fact. The backbone of the entire industry is the intricate human trafficking supply chain. We wanted to communicate that with the right intervention at the right point in this supply chain, victims of trafficking can be rehabilitated back to society, back to love and care. Snap the Chain series is a confluence of design, traditional format, and technology that elevates visual storytelling by transforming into an interactive piece of communication, going beyond just awareness of the issue to also shedding light on the solution.”
