Go Gentle makes voluntary euthanasia personal with ‘Be The Bill’
Just weeks after launching a campaign to introduce voluntary euthanasia laws into Australia, Go Gentle Australia has launched a campaign to enlist public support and remind politicians of the unnecessary human suffering current laws cause.
Cummins & Partners devised the powerful campaign which allows Australians to submit a version of the South Australian Voluntary Euthanasia Bill 2016, replacing the word ‘Person’ with their own names and then use it to lobby their local politicians.
Shortly after the launch of Go Gentle’s push to have new laws introduced, Go Gentle co-director Andrew Denton told Mumbrella the advertising industry has a huge role to play in convincing parliamentarians to change the laws.
‘Be The Bill’ launched with South Australian, Kylie Monaghan, submitting the ‘Kylie Monaghan Voluntary Euthanasia Bill No. 1’. Each subsequent Bill submitted by people will numerically named to reflect growing public support for the bill.
Denton said the goal of the campaign is to reflect that the majority of Australians support the right for people to die in dignity without suffering.
“The majority of Australians support choice at the end of life, but despite this there is still no law,” Denton said.
“This campaign will hopefully bridge the gap between public sentiment and political action by creating a social groundswell that politicians will no longer be able to ignore.”
Dozens of likeminded Australian celebrities and personalities have already given their support to the campaign, giving it a critical mass from the start.
Cummins & Partners executive creative director, Julian Schreiber, said the decision to use people’s names to replace the Bill names was a way to shock politicians into seeing exactly with the Bill was about.
“Be The Bill is designed to make politicians look beyond the impersonal legalese contained in the Bill and remind them that the proposed legislation may, one day, affect me, or them or someone they love,” Schreiber said.
Supporters of the campaign include Ben Elton, Thomas Keneally and Jane Caro.
The campaign also has the support of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation.
Visitors to the Go Gentle website will be able to personalise the Bill with the click of a button and then share their Bill with politicians as well as through social media.
topics
Advertising
Andrew Denton
Campaign
cummins & partners
Go Gentle Australia
Jane Caro
Julian Schreiber
Liz Hayes
Tom Keneally
Ah, Euthanasia – the only example where we treat animals better than humans. Where the rational camp and emotional camp butt heads.
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