During the pandemic, domestic violence increased by 30% but calls to Interval House Women’s Shelter initially went down. Women weren’t getting the crucial information they needed to reach out and get help.

Abusive relationships can be extremely isolating, and the pandemic only worsened this for women. With very few reasons to leave the house, they had extremely limited contact with others and fewer opportunities to get help.

Interval House wanted to find a way to discreetly reach them and give them the support they needed to leave their abusive relationships. But with extended lockdowns, how could we get our message into their hands?

We hid lifesaving information in one of the only places these women could get away from their abusers during the pandemic: the grocery store.

To get their attention, we created a custom display filled with bruised apples and placed it in the produce section. On each apple, we added custom produce stickers with information about abuse and the phone number for the Interval House Crisis Line.

Recognizing that some people had pivoted to ordering groceries online, we went a step further to ensure these were getting into the right hands and discreetly added bruised apples to grocery delivery orders, mixing them among other produce people had ordered.

We knew we needed to seize the moment when they were away from their abuser to convey crucial information to our target.

To get their attention, we created a custom display filled with bruised apples and placed it in the produce section. On each apple, we added custom produce stickers with information about abuse and the phone number for the Interval House Crisis Line.

This simple, effective placement helped us get the attention of those who needed help. Plus, the tiny produce stickers allowed women to discreetly take away the information for Interval House’s Crisis Line.

We launched in local stores in July 2021 and ran this campaign throughout August. As COVID cases started to rise again in Canada and another lockdown was inevitable, we wanted to make sure these women had the information when they needed it most.

Our custom produce display helped our Bruised Fruit stand out in the grocery store and get the attention of those who needed help. We reinforced this message with in-store signage and POS displays.

Recognizing that some people had pivoted to ordering groceries online, we went a step further to ensure these were getting into the right hands and discreetly added bruised apples to grocery delivery orders, mixing them among other produce people had ordered.

Our tiny message had a big impact. After the campaign launched, Interval House saw a 17% increase in calls to their Crisis Line and a 90% increase in site visits. Most importantly, they saw a 66% increase in shelter occupancy which meant we succeeded in helping women get away from their abusers.