SUB CATEGORY :

PUBLIC SERVICES & CAUSE APPEALS

COMPANY ENTERING :

TBWA, SYDNEY

TITLE :

CLASSIFY CONSENT

BRAND :

CONSENT LABS

ADVERTISER :

CONSENT LABS

AGENCY :

TBWA\SYDNEY, SYDNEY

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER :

PAUL BRADBURY

MANAGING DIRECTOR :

TANYA VRAGALIS

CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER :

EVAN ROBERTS

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

KATRINA ALVAREZ-JARRATT/RUSS TUCKER

ART DIRECTOR :

EDWIN CONCUBIERTA

COPYWRITER :

EKIN GUNES

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER :

LISA BROWN

AGENCY PRODUCER :

LISA BROWN/NEVILLE GOTLA

DESIGNER :

LOUIS ROYLE/EDWARD FRANCISCO

CLIENT SERVICE DIRECTOR :

VANESSA DI BLASIO/HELEN CAMPBELL-BORTON

STRATEGIC PLANNER :

RACHEL TUCKER/KELVIN CHONG

PR DIRECTOR :

MERISSA LENNON

PR AGENCY :

ELEVEN PR, SYDNEY/FLEISHMANHILLARD, SYDNEY

PR DIRECTOR :

JAMES MURRAY/REEGAN SAIANI

PR MANAGER :

GEORGIE STARR/ELLA MUELLER

FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY :

BOLT, SYDNEY

PR FILM :

MATT CREIGHTON

POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY :

BOLT, SYDNEY

EDITOR :

KENT HAU/JASON CAPIZZI

SOUND DESIGNER :

BEAU SILVESTER

MOTION GRAPHIC :

JAKE MARTIN

SOUND PRODUCTION COMPANY :

BOLT, SYDNEY

SOUND ENGINEER :

BEAU SILVESTER

CAMPAIGN SUMMARY :

Background
In a post-MeToo world, Australia became a leader by passing progressive consent laws.

Consent Labs, Australia’s leading consent experts, were working to educate the two-thirds of Australians who were never taught about consent.

But there was one space where all progress was being undermined – and Australians were collectively spending 780,000,000 hours a year watching it.

Insight
Lack of consent is normalised every day, and it happens on our screens in easy-to-miss moments, from Disney films to Hollywood rom-coms. The phenomenon is prevalent and psychologists have found that when we normalise it on screen, we normalise it in life.*

Troublingly, 3/5 people can’t even recognise non-consensual acts in films.**

Idea
We launched #ClassifyConsent, a campaign for the first-ever film classification (“C”) to call out lack of consent. Just like with “violence”, the simple classification informs viewers of “lack of consent” before they watch content.

But it’s also powerful, turning entertainment into education each time it’s used.

We launched by exposing the lack of consent in famous film scenes and shared the videos on TikTok.

Our posts went viral and the campaign was quickly picked up by global media. With an earned reach of over 200 million, 71% of people wanted an official “lack of consent” classification^.

Our campaign generated so much attention that Netflix endorsed the classification, and we’re now working with the Australian Government to officially implement the first-ever “C” classification to call out lack of consent.

* Prof. Julia Lippman, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan
** 3 in 5 (57%) of Australians are unable to recognise non-consensual acts in films (Consent Labs –Pureprofile; July 2022)
^ 71% of Australians believe classifying these scenes should be a legal requirement (Consent Labs – Pureprofile; July 2022)

THE BRIEF :

While we were making progress in Australia around consent, there was still a lack of understanding around the topic. Two-thirds of Australians didn’t know what consent was*, even with new affirmative consent laws coming into effect.
We realised that films/TV shows depicted a lack of consent all the time, but it was played off as humour or treated as romance. Viewers couldn’t recognise it for what it was. Academics like Prof. Sujata Moorti wrote that sexual coercion and assault gets folded into humour/romance on screen “and becomes an accessory to it. So it has a trivializing effect. A sanitizing effect.”** Examples include forcing a kiss on an unsuspecting woman, to having sex with a man who begs you to stop.^
Every film presented an opportunity: not just to acknowledge lack-of-consent with its own classification, but to educate millions of viewers to stop normalising it, and start recognising it.
* Nearly two-thirds of Australians were never taught about consent (Consent Labs – Pureprofile; July 2022)
** ”How teen comedies normalize sexual assault”, Chicago Tribune, October 2018; Prof. Julia Lippman, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan; Prof. Sujata Moorti, Media Studies, Middlebury College
^ Ratatouille, 2007, WD; Bridgerton, 2020, Netflix

THE STRATEGY :

Because Consent Labs’ primary audience is young people (aged 12–24), we launched on TikTok and Instagram, revealing the non-consensual sexual acts in beloved scenes from films and TV shows, then applied supers unpacking how these moments lacked consent.
Each post drove lively social debate using material that young people were already watching.
With social media abuzz, we pitched the story to mainstream media, providing them with the scenes we’d all been watching without realising the non-consensual behaviours they were normalising. Each scene had copy that broke down the lack of consent, so consent education was baked into every asset.
The films and shows we used were internationally popular so the coverage went global and millions saw examples of what consent was and wasn’t, all without feeling like they were being ‘educated’ on the matter.
Angelique Wan, CEO of Consent Labs, was the spokesperson for the campaign, providing expert analysis of the scenes and expertly breaking down how films normalise non-consensual behaviour on prime-time television.

THE EXECUTION :

Every touchpoint of the campaign educated as well as communicated the movement to #ClassifyConsent, and all assets pointed people to the website where thousands pledged their support, downloaded consent toolkits, and even submitted more non-consensual scenes from film.
By posting scenes from pop culture on social media, we were able to educate with material people loved watching, organically reaching a wider audience and bringing a fraught topic into a space where it had an immediate impact. Each scene was an illustration of what lack of consent could look like, both on screen and in real life.

As the movement spread, even media members began suggesting their own scenes in films where it had been overlooked because of the funny or romantic context.
The classification itself will work to inform viewers just like “drug use”, “violence” or any other classification, informing viewers that the content contains these themes, without censoring any content.

While the movement launched in social and earned media, it earned the attention of representatives, and Consent Labs is now working with the Australian Government on an official (C) for Lack of Consent Classification to reach screens in 2023 – seamlessly integrating education into our favourite entertainment.

THE RESULT :

Because of the way the campaign elements were built, consent education was baked into every piece of media coverage and every touchpoint of the campaign.

Our TikTok posts had over 6 million views and the resulting PR saw the topic explode in global mainstream media. With an estimated reach of over 200 million, we used pop culture to spark a cultural movement around consent.

We launched a government petition (via our website) that garnered thousands of signatures, drove people to submit hundreds of scenes and galvanised everyone from activists to politicians. This awakening to lack of consent in films was contagious: even journalists unearthed their own examples*.

And it worked. Our campaign generated so much demand that multiple streaming platforms, including Netflix, endorsed the classification; and 71% of Australians supported it**. And in a world-first, Consent Labs are now working with the Government to officially implement the classification, bringing it onto every screen and into every home.

* “If movies carry consent warnings, will James Bond be cancelled?” Daisy Turnbull, Sydney Morning Herald, October 2, 2022
** 71% of Australians believe classifying these scenes should be a legal requirement (Consent Labs – Pureprofile, July 2022)