Skip ad: the ‘second chances’ campaign

Author: CIMCOM

Business in The Community has been working to get the tick-box which ex-offenders are obliged to fill out, removed from job application forms. Their thinking is that this is counterproductive. Being unemployed increases the probably of re-offending and also costs the economy around £11 billion a year.

So Leo Burnett was called in to create a campaign to help ban the tick-box. The underlying message is that people deserve a second chance. The approach chosen was a simple but emotional personal message to camera from an ex-offender, seen as a pre-roll film on YouTube, which challenges existing prejudices.

The ‘skip ad’ functionality has been cleverly incorporated. You can click ‘skip ad’ which is much what happens when the tick-box is used and ex-offenders get passed over but you’ll see the man become progressively more distressed. Or you can continue watching to see him grow in confidence.

The film has had an impact. The tick-box has been banned by seventeen organisations that employ a total of 175,000 people.

Read more on the campaign.