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In 2004, the Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) launched its first major awareness-raising campaign, funded by the European Social Fund. Its goal? To break down negative stereotypes associated to the Roma community, to combat discrimination and to improve the social image of one of the most stigmatised and rejected social groups in Spain.

Cuña de radio "Fútbol"

Under the slogan “This is how we see the Roma community”, the FSG highlighted the injustice of generalisations and the possible effects of judging people on the basis of preconceived ideas. The poster, featuring the phrase “This plant is dry”, when the plant is leafy and lush and only has a single dry leaf, is an example of the attribution of the mistakes committed by a few individuals to an entire community. With the same idea of “We all pay for one’s actions”, film director Benito Zambrano filmed three television spots. One of the latter shows how a bus driver throws all passengers out of the bus because one of them did not pay the ticket.

The campaign, aimed at society in general and communication media in particular, was composed of different advertising pieces: three television spots, four radio spots, five posters, Internet pieces, as well as various merchandising items.

Presentations throughout spain

The campaign was launched with an institutional presentation in Madrid on 4 November 2004, with the attendance of the then Spanish Minister of Culture, Carmen Calvo, and the State Secretary for Social Affairs, Amparo Valcarce. The national launch was followed by 60 public presentations in emblematic sites of the principal cities of Spain; as well as presentations in different forums, which represented the participation of close to 5,000 attendees and the involvement of over one hundred administrations.

Media impact

The campaign benefitted from significant media coverage in major national, regional and local media, with the generation of more than 800 news items. For example, the news coverage of the campaign’s launch reached an audience of close to seven million viewers. In addition to the media coverage of the presentations, the FSG managed to stimulate media interest in the Roma community, which materialised through the subsequent production of documentaries from more positive and down-to-earth perspectives than those customarily expressed by the media.

The diffusion of the different pieces benefitted from the support of communication media. RTVE stood out among them by providing free slots for the campaign’s spot and ads; so did numerous other local radio and television outlets, while newspapers featured the poster of the campaign in their pages.

A subsequent study revealed that 13% of people felt that the campaign had changed their opinion on the Roma community.

More information available on the webpage of the campaign.

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