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Amnesty International casts former child soldier in anti-arms trade ad

Amnesty International has cast a former child soldier in an ad that calls for greater control over the global arms trade.

The ad was created by M&C Saatchi Sydney, the first work the agency has produced for the human rights campaigning group.

The pro-bono campaign aims to put pressure on the United Nations, which is due to negotiate a global arms trade treaty in July to end arms abuses.


The campaign will involve Facebook ads, guerrilla stickers and postcards as well as an interactive petition that allows the user to sign their name, which will be turned into an underground tunnel or ‘Path to Freedom’ for a child soldier to escape through.

Aussie celebrities such as Blue King Brown’s Natalie Pa’apa’a, MasterChef judge Matt Preston, and political comedians The Chaser team have signed up as campaign ambassadors.

An outdoor street event is also planned for Melbourne’s Federation Square on June 13.

Katie Hart, Amnesty International Australia’s marketing manager said: “When one person is killed every minute in armed conflict, it is clear that world’s weapons must be kept out of the wrong hands.”

M&C Saatchi executive creative director Ben Welsh said: “The digital petition is a labour of love and the perfect example of brutal simplicity. The site has only been live a matter of weeks and we are already nearly halfway to the target of 20,000 signatures with one month to go.”

The signed petition will then be taken to the world governments at the United Nations meeting in July to negotiate the global arms trade treaty.

As the campaign was devised by M&C Saatchi, the company also did the digital execution. Reactive, Amnesty International’s digital agency will continue to work with the charity on other projects.

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