CHRISTMAS OPERATIONS

Campaigns: Operation Christmas, Rivers of Light, Operation Bethlehem, Mother’s Voice; Designer: MullenLowe SSP3 (Colombia); Collaborator: Colombian Ministry of Defense’s Program of Humanitarian Attention to the Demobilized; Location: Colombia; Years: 2010–13

In an effort to bring an end to the decades-long conflict in Colombia, the Ministry of Defense partnered with a Bogotá-based ad agency to create a series of campaigns to persuade FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels to leave behind their weapons and come home. The successive campaigns built on lessons learned about effective tactics from returning guerrillas. The first campaign focused on the spirit of Christmas and its significance as a holiday spent with family; another brought lights to the jungle’s rivers, sending floating orbs filled with homecoming messages; another featured stories from mothers of soldiers. These humanizing campaigns helped shift public perception of returning guerillas.

Image: Mother's Voice, 2013; Photo: SSP3