Toronto Crime Stoppers is firing off the latest instalment of its "Cash for Guns" awareness campaign, to help get handguns off the street.
Created pro bono by DDB Toronto, the effort includes posters and transit ads showing a handgun with the barrel pointed backwards at the would-be shooter and the tag line, "Use a gun and you’re more likely to die from one."
"The ads get to the point. It gets your attention," said Lorne Simon, chair of the non-profit community program, and president of Toronto-based Michael Communications PR Group.
The campaign aims to encourage people to come forward anonymously with any first-hand knowledge of where an illegal or crime-related handgun could be located.
The Cash for Guns campaign first launched in 2005, and rewards any tip leading to the seizure of the handgun with $500 cash. In 2008, over 8,600 tips were taken, and over 800 arrests were made.
The ads will run on Facebook indefinitely and across donated media space from Onestop Media Group until the end of the month.
Later this month, Toronto Crime Stoppers will be promoting its text-in option with social media and posters aimed at Toronto’s youth.
