Aura Freedom’s “The Body Bag for Her” is calling attention to the alarming rate of femicide – every 48 hours, a woman in Canada is killed, most often by a man – by leaning into a classic advertising trope when targeting women.

While body bags are typically black, the bag is reimagined predominantly in pink, a colour that implies that a product is ‘for her.’ With many Canadians lacking the awareness of the difference between femicide and homicide, the interpretation is intended to capture people’s attention around the issue and take action to effect change.

“We are drawing on traditional marketing tropes of gendered products – from pink razor blades to pink-packaged shampoo – to call attention to the fact that we don’t gender homicide in Canada,” says Glen D’Souza, head of creative with Forsman & Bodenfors, which developed the campaign. “We’re gendering homicide so Canadians understand the huge problem women are facing in Canada.”

The campaign aligns with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Nov. 25.

“The world will gender just about everything – products, services, professions – we’ll gender just about everything until it counts,” says D’Souza. “Femicide is not officially recognized in Canadian legislation. We must ‘gender homicide’- a.k.a. femicide – because we are missing the mark and women are dying in higher numbers, and because acknowledging the issue is the first step to addressing it.”

The hero spot takes viewers into a studio to show the care and craft that goes into a bag being designed, before taking a dark turn to reveal it’s actually a body bag made specifically for women.

The spot directs viewers to a petition created by Aura Freedom, which calls on the federal government to declare femicide a national emergency. If that can be accomplished, resources for preventive solutions can be unlocked to address the root causes of the disturbing phenomenon and keep women and families safe.

Print, OOH, social, influencer marketing and broadcast all direct Canadians to a microsite containing information on femicide and the petition.

“We created the “For Her” campaign to bring public awareness to the sobering realities of femicide in Canada and to demand action from our government,” said Marissa Kokkoros, founder and executive director of Aura Freedom. “We’re not waiting anymore and we’re not asking nicely. When will women matter enough?”

“The Body Bag for Her” is the first collaboration between Forsman & Bodenfors, Veritas Communications and Aura Freedom.

Veritas Communications handled PR and influencer support and Twenty6Two took care of traditional media.