Name of the campaign: Go Back To African
Name of the agency: FCB/Six
Name of the brand: Black & Abroad
Why the campaign rocks:Most black people living in the US or Europe have heard the phrase “Go back to Africa”, at least once in their lives. The racist slur has long been used by the world to suggest that they don’t belong in the west. The campaign turned this negative into a positive. It used the phrase to remind them to visit their country of origin.
On one hand, the campaign combated hate speech on social media by empowering black travellers to reclaim and counter a racial slur. At the same time, it increased representation of black people on a platform often dominated by wealthy white tourists and shows off the beauty of the African continent. It used AI technology to its best by crowdsourcing the images from travellers and people who had already visited an African country. It then filtered the images based on location, subject and relevance.
When I first saw this campaign at Cannes I knew it would win because there was a truth in the idea. It was so simple yet so powerful. It did not require any big budget film and big media spends. It’s a clear example that technology can drive a campaign irrespective of the ad spends.
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