This November 20 marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Franco dictatorship and the beginning of democracy. A milestone that the Government of Spain wanted to commemorate with a series of social and cultural events and initiatives aimed at celebrating the rights and freedoms achieved since then. Among them, the communication campaign “Democracy is your power” has been launched, which focuses on the defense of democratic values.
The Contrapunto BBDO agency has been in charge of developing the creative concept for the Commissioner for the “Celebration of Spain in Freedom 50 years”, dependent on the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory. The campaign invites citizens to reflect on the rights and freedoms achieved by Spanish society in the last five decades.
Thus, the campaign acts as a kind of manifesto for Spanish democracy that displays the rights and freedoms that we all currently enjoy, such as “to be able to give an opinion, to be able to believe or not to believe, to be able to be right, left, center or to be of nothing“, as the voiceover expresses.
Education and public health, equal marriage and opportunities for immigration are also highlighted.
The advertisement had Smile as producer and the duo Calorro as directors. The music was provided by the group La Elite.
“We want to indoctrinate in democracy and the values of democracy. The dangerous thing is to indoctrinate in totalitarianism. We want to invite a serene and contrasted reflection on what it means to live in democracy and what it has meant to live in a dictatorship, especially among those who did not know the four decades of Franco’s dictatorship and the absence of freedoms.”, commented Ángel Víctor Torres, Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, in a statement.
For her part, Carmina Gustrán, Historian, Professor at the University of Zaragoza and “Celebration of Spain in Freedom 50 years”, points out that the objective of the campaign is to bring the conversation about democracy to all spaces, from universities to the park bench.
“We want to provoke a conversation about democracy”
He has also alluded to the opinions that the campaign and cultural programming have raised. “We do not want to provoke for the sake of provocation; If we want to provoke something, it is a conversation about democracy, plurality and our rights. If someone rejects that conversation, they don’t want to talk about it, they should explain why”, he noted in a statement.
The ad combines different audiovisual resources in parallel with the plurality of our country that it seeks to celebrate, and also presents a daring aesthetic and a dynamic rhythm. The objective of all this is to capture the attention of the new generations, on whom the message focuses with the intention of inviting them to continue defending democratic values.
“It is not easy to get younger people to talk about democracy on the park bench, at work or on their social networks, and this campaign pursues this objective, so, from that point of view, we do seek to provoke”, commented Carlos Jorge, General Creative Director of Contrapunto BBDO, in a statement.
In addition to the spot, the campaign will also have spots for traditional and online radio. They all follow the same style and demand, once again, education and public health or freedom of religion and freedom of the press, while encouraging the development of a critical spirit.
Wedge “Being able to abort”
Wedge “To be able to believe”
Wedge “Being able to question”
The campaign includes executions of outdoor and graphic advertising, in which through copies the diversity that democracy accommodates is raised.
A tarp has also been deployed on Gran Vía to highlight linguistic plurality. As Salvador Illa, President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, has shared on social networks, creativity conveys, with a text in Catalan, that democracy also means being able to place an advertisement in Catalan in the middle of one of the main streets of Madrid.
In addition, the campaign has an extensive social media strategy to be present with ad-hoc pieces. The intention is, as expressed by the agency, to connect with the youngest audience by speaking to them in their same codes.
The campaign accompanies a program with more than 480 activities that will take place in the months of November and December throughout the Spanish territory. It includes exhibitions, performing arts, music, literature, round tables, digital initiatives, podcasts or educational workshops.
More info.: Spain in Freedom 50 years
