AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL VERSUS AMAZON CAMPAIGN
CLIENT
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Located in the United Kingdom, Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organization focusing on human rights. The organization works in more than 150 countries to protect and promote human rights through its global network of over 7 million members.
PROBLEM
EMPOWERMENT
On a global scale, Amazon has created a working environment that denies warehouse workers the right to privacy, the right to unionize or even the right to speak about workplace improvements without employment termination. The public are disgusted by this but widespread boycotts by consumers are short lived as the pandemic as made them more reliant on Amazon's delivery service.
BRIEF
21ST CENTURY PROTEST
To create a campaign that went beyond informing the general public of Amazon inhumane work place practices but to empower the public to effectively protest in Amazon in a way that wouldn't threatened worker's livelihoods while remain realistic for the consumer.
STRATEGY
If workers or consumers couldn’t manage to separate themselves from Amazon to create change, the only way was to utilize Amazon’s inner workings to create disruption to protest; through data harvesting, employee management and its own wishlist function.
RESEARCH METHODS: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL'S INVESTIGATIONS
By reviewing amnesty international investigations of Amazon, it becomes clear how Amazon has blockaded Amnesty international’s attempts to communicate as well as how Amazon’s workplace practices violates which particular human rights according to Amnesty International and these human rights are denied in a consistent patterns across countries.
RESEARCH METHODS: HEARING EMPLOYEE TESTIMONIES
Next was to listen to the warehouse employees testimonies. After reading a number of these, it becomes very apparent just how precarious these employees jobs are. As several testimonies revealed that employees were fired over the mention of minor work place improvements. This insight develops a strategy that will acknowledge the precariousness of their situation and be handled delicately so that they are in powered to to advocate well not risking their livelihoods.
RESEARCH METHODS: ANALYZING AMAZON'S CAMPAIGNS
By analyzing Amazon advertising campaigns, it was noted that they are primary concerned about their public image regarding workplace treatment and paid actors to act as Amazon warehouse employees to espouse different experiences from the brutal real experiences. This showed a weak point in Amazon’s armor as well as increased the need to support actual worker’s stories.
STRATEGIC ANSWERS
WISHLISTS
To answer back to Amazons propaganda, which had discredited the employees testimonies, we used Amazons wish list feature to illustrate what was the real Amazon employees’ experience. These wishlist were made up of items that would be necessary for a day today Amazon employees experience; such as shoe sole inserts, 5 hour energy drinks and back braces for long standing shifts. Bottles for how employees had to relieve themselves to not get penalized to take the time to walk to a bathroom. Through this, Amazon’s platform is being utilized to visualize the testimonies of the employee through its own feature.
Items by Nablia Basher
Idea & layout design by Ariele
PROJECT APP
Beyond all of else, Amazon employees needed a secure platform to discuss workplace improvements that didn’t risk their livelihood. So Project App would be launched, in which employees would gain access through the local protest leader to an anonymous chat room. Control of the app would be given to a community leader so that power remains in the local community.
Graphics by Jewel Prava
Idea & Layout Design by Ariele
USING ALEXA
To empower Amazon consumers to express their displeasure in an impactful way is to utilize Alexa as a protester. To do this, enough owners of Alexa must ask the campaign question “How does Amazon work?”. Once asked enough, this question will go the website of Alexa Answer, in which Prime members that are unhappy with Amazon’s treatment of workers, can write in the campaign’s answer of “systematic silence surveillance.” Once up voted enough, this answer will be repeated by Alexas everywhere, espousing our message as well as clogging Amazon’s data harvesting with protest messaging.
DECK DESIGN
The deck design for this strategy contained massive amounts of research and complex ideas in complicated systems. To communicate that clearly but also in an interesting way, layout design had to be colourful and dynamic. At the same time, considering the subject of human rights violations, the tone of seriousness must be maintained. This was achieved through combing the similar colour schemes of Amazon and Amnesty International and utilizing the formers fonts.
