Newfoundland and Labrador’s Crime Stoppers launched a new campaign Tuesday ahead of the association’s annual Crime Stoppers Month. The campaign, created by Target Marketing and Communications, aims to increase the number of anonymous tips Crime Stoppers receives.
“The more we talked to them, the more we gained an insight that when someone witnesses a crime, quite often they don’t speak up,” said Jenny Smith, creative group head at Target. “They don’t want to get involved, there is potentially a fear of being implicated or they think someone else will call in.”
In the campaign’s TV spot, a shredded up ‘Wanted’ poster climbs out of a garbage pile and moves through an electronic shredder until it’s reconstructed as a mug shot. The text, “Every tip brings us closer to identifying criminals,” is then displayed. Smith said each shred is a visual representation of a tip, which can come together to solve a crime.
The campaign also includes billboards and print and radio ads. The media buy, which is entirely donated ad space, was handled by Target (which works pro bono for Crime Stoppers). The campaign will run in print in St. John’s newspaper the Telegram, on Coast 101.1 and VOCM radio as well as on NTV. Ads will also run on EC Boone billboards and Metrobus ad space in St. John.
The campaign is currently in market and will run until early March.
