Domestic violence campaign

Soul has created a poster campaign for London Mayor Ken Livingstone, tackling the issue of domestic violence. The campaign, which is being run by the Greater London Authority, is an attempt to move away from the portrayal of domestic violence sufferers as victims. Instead, it turns the focus on the men who commit these crimes. Both executions use the tagline: ‘Only weak men beat women’. Soul managing partner Duncan Bird says the strategy was chosen after talking to women in an East London refuge. ‘They did not want to be portrayed as victims, as they felt the victim culture encouraged the abuse. Rather, they felt that attacking a man’s machismo would work,’ he says. The campaign is being launched this week on a borough-by-borough basis, with media bought by Pawson.