A dedicated youth taskforce, who work together to help reduce knife-carrying in their communities, helped to evaluate peer-to-peer reactions to the activity: • 89% said the boxes were spoken about by friends• 76% agreed that the boxes were good or fantastic• 74% were interested or surprised when they saw the boxes • 65% agree that the boxes are a good way of communicating with young people • 48% agreed that they would not have taken as much notice of the ad, had it appeared on a billboard

Bold and striking, the copy on the takeaway box outlined the punitive consequences of carrying a knife. Research with young people showed that often the most difficult elements of prison life were the small things; highlighting the day-to-day realities of prison brought home a powerful deterring message: In prison: You can’t go to chicken shops whenever you wantYou can’t hang out with your matesYou can’t see your family whenever you wantYou can’t wear whatever you wantThis activity also made its way online; numerous young people posted images of the takeaway boxes onto their Facebook walls, as with this example taken from a profile shared with the Home Office (See effectiveness/outcome)

Given the nature of our audience, they are more difficult to target with traditional media – we know they are more likely to be out and about with their friends than staying home to watch TV. Throughout the campaign, ‘It Doesn’t Have to Happen’ has interacted with young people to gain real insight into their lives – insights which we used to full effect when developing new and unexpected creative.

It was important that we recognise the strengths of combining mass broadcast channels with more niche media to get our message out at places where groups of young people congregate. Fast food boxes gave us presence where you wouldn’t expect government messaging and helped build affinity with the audience via hard-hitting messaging.