Since 2008 more than 500,000 families have been evicted from their homes, but despite this, left with a heavy debt with the bank hung around their necks. The citizen’s platform Stop Desahucios created a social activation campaign in which participants used money as a media to stamp their demands, given that money is the only thing that the banks and the Government see. Through a web site, the public could order a rubber stamp specifically designed to stamp precisely under every bridge on every euro bill. Many citizens joined the movement #NoMasDesahucios stamping their money and achieving massive levels of engagement when they shared photos of their stamped bills on social networks.

• 20,000 rubber stamps ran out in less than 24 hours

• More than 120 media covered the campaign

• More than 100,000 tweets

• In two weeks the campaign succeeding in influencing the passing of the ‘Second Chance Law’

The situation was critical. In 2014, more than 20,000 families in Spain had lost their homes because they couldn’t pay their mortgage and despite being evicted remaining in debt to the bank. Spain is the only country in the world where this occurs. Neither the media nor the Government showed any interest in fixing the problem. Our objective was to make society aware of and empathetic to the issue to amend this injustice. How? Through a ‘media’ that would put our message directly into everyone’s hands…euro bills. We used a rubber stamp as a protest to spread our message.

• An estimated audience of 80.1 million

• 20,000 rubber stamps ran out in 24 hours

• More than 120 media appearances including on the highest rating TV programs

• More than 100,000 tweets

• ROI 1,217,220 €

• Thousands of euro bills stamped

• When stocks of stamps ran out, many people ‘drew’ our stamp on euro bills

But the most important result: Two weeks after the campaign launch, the Spanish President announced the ‘Second Chance Law’ to stop evictions. Additionally, the other political parties included similar policies in their electoral programs. With one little rubber stamp we have been able to make a more just law possible.

We started with a universal insight. Where do people go when they are left without a home? Colloquially speaking it is said they go and live ‘under a bridge’ and we realised that every single euro bill has a bridge printed on it. How can you place an evicted family under a bridge directly and symbolically? By creating a rubber stamp on which this family was represented and asking people to stamp it under the bridges on every euro bill.

Our appeal was made through the hashtag #NoMasDesahucios and moved on social networks, from despatches to opinion leaders and a web site. In less than 24 hours a social movement had been created in the streets, on social networks and in the media. Currently the movement continues advancing organically.