This college acceptance letter tells the hard truth about sexual assaults on campus
(DontAcceptRape.com)
“The first six weeks of college is the period when freshmen have the highest likelihood of being raped," Margaret Johnson, executive creative director at Goodby Silverstein & Partners tells Ad Week.
She and her team recently released a campaign called “Unacceptable Acceptance Letters,” which highlights how one in five women will be sexually assaulted in schools across North America.
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“We timed our campaign to raise awareness at the earliest point when college becomes a reality—the time when incoming freshmen receive their acceptance letters,” she says.
The campaign features a series of videos as well as a print ad, that highlight that moment when a student receives a college acceptance letter.
But these aren’t your typical letters.
Amidst the excitement and joy of being accepted and welcomed to the school, the letters then highlight the likely sexual assaults these students will encounter once they start their year.
“We’re sorry that one of these memories will include being raped by someone you thought you could trust,” reads the print ad. “You’ll fear the night he presses you against a wall and every day after that.”
The letter then outlines how the school will treat you after you’ve been assaulted.
“The claims you make against your rapist will be ignored, much like your right to feel safe at school. After all, you can’t expect us to expel someone on the basis of a story that begins with, ‘I had been drinking.’”
The closing line hits like a final judgement.
“Alcohol has a way of making you stretch the truth, and we don’t respond to liars.”
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“The cover-ups are just as unacceptable as the attacks, and the campaign aims to hold these colleges accountable,” Johnson explains.
“We hope that people will take action through social media.“
What do you think of Goodby Silverstein & Partners’s approach to this issue? Let us know by tweeting to @YahooStyleCA.
