We enlisted an army to fight violence against women

Every year, Vodafone Iceland hosts a fundraiser for UN Women in their retail stores, often selling a different color beanie each year bearing a "FO" badge, which stands for "Fokk Ofbeldi" (Fuck Violence). The problem was, getting that year’s beanie color became a fashion trend that felt detached from the work UN Women does to fight gender-based violence around the world.

Our answer was to restrict sales of the beanie only to people would sign a pledge to stand up against gender-based violence wherever and whenever they encounter it, thus enlisting themselves into the FO Army.

We then recruited notable Icelanders from all walks of life–from teen pop stars to elected officials and asked them to stand together and take the pledge on social media, asking their followers to do the same.

The campaign not only gave the fundraiser some teeth, but the entire stock of FO beanies sold out in under two weeks despite the requirement.

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While these stelpur (girls) didn’t quite get the arm gesture right, but their post was my favorite.

Creative Director: Daniel Bremmer. Creatives: Katarina Huber, Einar Lövdahl Gunnlaugsson, Haukur V Alfreðsson. Social Strategist: Júlía Skagfjörd Sigurðdóttir. Photographer: Saga Sig. Videographer: Logi Ingimarsson.