Ogilvy’s ‘Masterpiece of Abuse’ bags two Grand Prix and six Golds

Phoenix Ogilvy team winning the Grand Prix Award in the Static Category 

Phoenix Ogilvy team winning the Grand Prix Award in the PR Category 

At the recently held Four A’s Advertising Awards 2024, Phoenix Ogilvy’s ‘The Masterpiece of Abuse’ campaign clinched two out of the three Grand Prix awards and six Gold Awards. 

The campaign, created for the Women in Need Organisation, triumphed in multiple categories, addressing a crucial social issue that is relevant to the 11 million women in the country. 

The ‘Masterpiece of Abuse’ took a provocative approach on International Women’s Day deviating from the conventional celebratory and empowerment-focused messaging that’s limited to one day. It introduced a character named Ewa – The Masterpiece of Abuse, a statue constructed from hundreds of newspaper stories that highlighted various forms of abuse faced by women during the 365 days leading up to Women’s Day. 

Ewa was displayed in highly public locations, reflecting the hypocrisy of ‘empowering’ women for just one single day in media while ignoring the ongoing acts of abuse they endure during the rest of the year. The campaign sparked genuine social debate, capturing the attention of major news outlets, alternative media, influencers, and social channels.

Kasun Wadumestri of Phoenix Ogilvy, sharing insights behind the award-winning campaign said, “Every year on Women’s Day, advertising agencies receive numerous briefs to create campaigns highlighting women’s empowerment or appreciation. However, we noticed a paradox. These advertisements often appeared in newspapers alongside news articles that highlighted various abuses faced by women. This contradiction became the foundational thought for the campaign. Our objective was to expose this social hypocrisy by using the very stories of abuse as raw material to create Ewa.” 

Wadumestri noted Ewa was created to be a thought-provoking statue as traditionally in the country statues are symbols that command recognition. But, in this case, Ewa served as an idol of society’s own complicity in perpetuating abuse against women.

The collaborative efforts by multiple disciplines under the Phoenix Ogilvy Group won two Grand Prix Awards in the categories of Static and PR. Further the agency won six Gold awards in the categories of Static Single, Static Special, Static Craft, PR Products and Services, OOT Not-for-profit and OOT Best use of Ambient at the Four A’s Advertising Awards held on 31 May in Colombo.

The campaign was created for Women in Need (WIN), a Non-Governmental Organisation in Sri Lanka. WIN provides a range of services to victims of domestic violence, abuse, and other forms of violence against women and girls.