“It all started as a discovery that stirred up a personal discontent.”
— Dyon Kaleuwee & Ersem Ercil (2018)
Intro
We started our research by reaching out to people who knew more about the subject(slavenarmband). We spoke to several people, among which, a history student-turned-activist. We also had a chat with public figure and international stylist: Jean-Paul Paula. We were also featured in his Instagram story.
The next step, consisted of ‘confronting’ the jewelry stores. We called them under alter-ego’s and asked them straight up about the ‘slavebracelet’ and what it means to them.
We could start explaining the troubled nature which the name of the bracelet carries, but we’d rather let them do it.
Year: 2018
Type: Culture Jamming
Jewelry Retailers Involved
- Siebel Juweliers
- Lucardi
- Trendjuwelier
- Bol.com
- Fashionchick.nl
- Kaya Sieraden
- Fokko Juweliers
- Mostert Juweliers
Process
Eventually, we came to understand that if you want to solve a problem like this, you sometimes have to alter people in their behaviour directly. At the same time we could say something about the way the jewellers market their products.
Solution Concept
So, we came up with an idea to inflict awareness directly, by using Google’s own marketing system. We highjacked the search-word ‘slavenarmband’ and gave it its own company info block. The contact option in this block would put you in contact with designated historical museums, aimed to help people educate themselves.
You can see how it works in the video:
(translation below)
Translation
‘Slavenarmband might mean something different than you are aware of. The name derives from the times of slavery. Rich persons would offer their slaves steel bracelets, as a symbol of ownership. These were often too tight around the wrist and were engraved with the name of the owner. It was simply put another way of denying the slave his/hers identity. Maybe something to consider the next time you’re buying a slavenarmband.’
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