Serviceplan's 'The Truth Unveiled' Campaign Awarded Two D&AD Impact Pencils

The impact of 'The Truth Unveiled’, produced by Serviceplan Health & Life with Serviceplan India in support of IPRAS Women For Women, has been recognised with the significant award of  one graphite and one wood pencil in the Health & Wellness and Diversity & Equality categories.  Even more significantly for four acid attack victims in India featured in the campaign, they have gone on to accept government jobs and been recruited by the Delhi High Court, in a unique path-breaking initiative designed to confront societal prejudice against acid attack victims. So the real reward is that the campaign encouraged a global dialogue about the tragic effect acid attacks can have on the lives of ordinary people, and even succeeded in making the government aware of the plight of acid attack victims, which demonstrates the transformative potential when creativity is utilised for the greater good.   

‘The Truth Unveiled’ was conceived by Serviceplan Health & Life and produced with Serviceplan India, to address the problem that in India, one woman is burned or attacked with acid every hour. On the occasion that one of these victims is reported on in the media, their faces are consistently blurred and obscured, which keeps their suffering hidden and ignored.  Because acid attack victims are blurred and obscured in the national media outlets in India, the severity of the domestic abuse situation has not been properly acknowledged. 

IPRAS Women for Women, an initiative set up to help the victims of acid attacks with plastic surgery was in need of a big, far-reaching idea that would inspire the nation. The aim was to open the doors for acid attack victims to finally be acknowledged and seriously discussed. 

To create a national, eye-opening impact that forced India to face the truth, an unavoidable and far-reaching platform was needed. Serviceplan found this platform in “NewsX, India’s leading English news network, where they were able to reach more than 100 million viewers.  Serviceplan Health & Life and Serviceplan India collaborated with Asma, a brave woman who was tragically scarred in an acid attack as a young girl.  

On International Women’s Day 2017, Asma hosted a special report, where she shockingly unveiled her face and revealed her scars in front of over 100,000,000 viewers and appealed for help. Culturally and politically, ‚The Truth Unveiled ‚was a major and revolutionary event, because it marked the first time ever that an acid attack victim unveiled their scars on India’s national news. It defied the national media norms with outstanding effect, and forced India to face the truth and severity of acid attacks in the most effective way possible. 

With over 100 million people witnessing the event, a national dialogue about acid attacks was opened and a national movement was sparked.