Challenge
Homelessness is at an epidemic level in Australia, however Australians often turn a blind eye and look the other way with four in ten Australians thinking the homeless are ‘lazy freeloaders’, ‘stupid failures’ or ‘not working hard enough.’
To combat these hardened views SBS produced a 3 part series where five wealthy participants unknowingly surrendered their belongings, and were subject to 10 day’s of living homeless with the aim to resolve their situation.
However, with an ambivalent Australian audience of 15 million, our challenge was to get them to question their perceptions about homelessness and create moments of empathy so that Filthy Rich and Homeless became the must see documentary series of 2017.
Insight & Idea
So how can we drive empathy to an audience who do not understand the depths of Homelessness?
Research showed ‘Homeless Ambivalents’ were more receptive to the severity of homelessness in cold climates and when they imagined themselves in the place of the homeless individual.
We therefore created a trigger at the point of highest receptivity – in the warmth and comfort of their own home post dinner.
Introducing Meal for a Meal
A SBS & Foodora partnership where customers could ‘pay it forward’ by donating a meal to the homeless community when ordering their takeaway, all from the comfort of their home.
