How Saatchi Sydney Fought Back Against Digital Sweatshops

Digital Sweatshops (‘Click Farms’) are used to fraudulently increase social media profiles with paid Views, Likes and Followers. And like traditional sweatshops, employees are forced to work long hours, for very little money, in appalling conditions.

To reach out to these workers and offer assistance Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney created a series of Facebook, Instagram and YouTube video messages in the local language that directed workers to a helpline where they could anonymously report abuse, discrimination and poor conditions to Asia Monitor Resource Centre; an independent NGO that advocates and lobbies businesses and governments to improve workers’ rights and conditions. The digital sweatshops were also paid to View, Like and Follow the messages, thereby using their very own service to talk directly to these at risk workers.

Every dollar invested into the campaign reached thousands of click farm workers, with the message reaching over 175,000 click farm workers in the first week alone.