The YWCA created a fashion brand and boutique called “Blamé” – with each product being named for an actual incident of victim blaming. Next, we created an integrated campaign inviting everyone to the store opening using social media, influencers, out of home, and digital. People believed it was a real brand and got angry with the product names, like “The Slut Dress” and “The Asking For It Crop Top.”

Then the store opened (on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) and people realized that nothing was for sale. Instead of a price tag, there was a real quote from a victim blamer, like “All I’m saying is she was dressed like a whore. Not surprised she got raped.” - @aburbeconditaX. This made people see that a piece of clothing is never an invitation to rape and blaming a victim is just cruel.

Implementation:

Here are the elements that made Blamé feel like a real fashion brand launch:

-A store front on Toronto’s hippest street

-A website with items selected by a fashion consultant

-Each clothing item referenced a real life incident of victim blaming

-A glossy launch campaign, including beautifully shot teaser videos

-Fashion influencers to create buzz

Media Channels:

-Pop up store

-Online store

-Twitter

-Instagram

-Wild postings

-Digital banners

-Influencers

Timeline: November 21 – December 6th, 2016

Wearblame.com is still live

Scale: National

Business results: The campaign helped the YWCA remain a leading and respected advocate for women’s issues in Canada. 

Change in behaviour: Blamé created lots of good discussion on social media and in the news. It helped people gain a real understanding of the damaging effects of victim blaming.  

But the discussion didn’t stop there. Shortly after Blamé launched, the National Judicial Council recommended that Justice Robin Camp, the judge who asked a sexual assault victim why she couldn’t keep her knees together, be removed from the bench. He resigned two months later. 

Results Overview:

-5 million social media impressions

-200 people attended the 3-hour store opening event

-100 people visited the store the following day

-7,000 visits to wearblame.com

-1185 uses of the unique campaign hashtag #NeverBlameTheVictim in two weeks

-1 Federal Judge resigned

The Blamé project was all about getting people in store and experiencing victim blaming for themselves. But to get people to come, we launched Blamé like a real fashion brand - with a provocative teaser campaign. It worked. For two days in November, people believed they were going to check out a new fashion brand and boutique. But once they got there they realized the clothes weren’t for sale – and the entire store carried the everyday clothing items sexual assault victims get blamed for. The experience was designed to make people question why they’re so quick to blame the victim.

Target audience: Everyone.

Media planning: Blamé launched the same way many fashion brands do – with a provocative social, digital and out of home campaign. But to create buzz and really get people interested in Blamé, we leveraged the networks of fashion influencers. These influencers were able to convince their followers and the “who’s who” of the fashion community to check out the Blamé collection at the opening event.

Approach: The Blamé store was designed for people to experience victim blaming. When they walked into the store and saw a piece of clothing they liked, they were shocked that something they would wear could be used to blame a rape victim. After the experience, people understood victim blaming on a personal level, making them an advocate for our cause.

Situation: When women are raped, they’re often blamed for it because of what they were wearing. Victim blaming is one of the main reasons why only 3 out of every 1,000 rapes lead to a conviction.

Brief: Create an integrated campaign to raise awareness of the unnecessary cruelty of victim blaming.

Objectives: To make people think twice before blaming a victim of sexual assault.