The White Pencil 6 Month Countdown
Celebrate the six month countdown to Peace Day 2012; a day the world remembers and celebrates our common humanity by rejecting conflict
White Pencil 2012: Creative Brief
The Brief
GROW AWARENESS AND ENGAGEMENT WITH PEACE DAY, ESTABLISHING
SEPTEMBER 21 AS A GLOBAL, SELF-SUSTAINING, ANNUAL DAY OF PEACE, WHEN
EVERYONE CAN TAKE ACTION TO END CONFLICT IN THEIR OWN LIVES AND IN THE
LIVES OF OTHERS.
The Cause/Client
Peace One Day - www.peaceoneday.org
The Background
In 1999, British filmmaker Jeremy Gilley launched the non-profit organisation Peace One Day to
document his efforts to establish an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence with a fixed
date. In 2001 his efforts were rewarded when the day was unanimously adopted by member states
of the United Nations as 21 September – Peace Day. With the day in place, Peace One Day is now
working to institutionalise Peace Day around the world.
The Communications Task
We want to make it impossible for anyone to ignore Peace Day. We want to make it a day that
everyone around the world engages with, so that governments and leaders in conflict zones have no
other choice but to implement it. The task is to grow grassroots awareness and active personal
engagement with Peace Day, to make this day ubiquitous and as part of our social fabric as
Valentines’ Day or Mother’s Day, in fact more so. To be truly effective Peace Day needs to be
observed by a huge proportion of the earth’s population on an ongoing yearly basis.
Peace One Day have been advised by leading social statisticians that the tipping point of awareness
that will allow a day to become ‘institutionalised’ in the calendar is roughly 20% of the world’s
population. If POD can generate that level of engagement around the day, it will become selfsustaining. But POD are aiming high: they want to reach 3 billion people with the message of Peace
Day by September 2012. Your challenge is to help them get as far along that path as you can.
Simultaneously, as a major contributing factor towards reaching that tipping point, POD is working
towards a day of ceasefire and non–violence specifically on Peace Day 21 September 2012 – a
Global Truce. POD hopes that this will be the largest reduction in global violence in recorded history.
Peace One Day is a non-profit organisation, impartial and independent of any government, political
persuasion, corporation or religious creed. The longevity and ongoing effectiveness of Peace Day is
dependent on such impartiality and all-inclusiveness. Entrants should align their campaigns
accordingly.
Essential food for thought
• Think beyond and across your discipline to solve this problem. Be a creative polymath, a creative
collaborator, a creative activist. Use everything you have to solve this, after all, this problem is
everybody’s.
• Jeremy Gilley’s lobbying mission has resulted in dramatic positive change in the world. In 2007,
Jeremy and POD ambassador Jude Law travelled to Afghanistan where they led a process that
has resulted in 4.5 million children being vaccinated against polio following Peace Day
agreements by all parties in the region in 2007/8/9. But in order for these achievements to be
sustained and replicated, we believe that the level of grassroots awareness and engagement on
Peace Day needs to be increased considerably. Peace is fragile and only global mobilization can
help protect it.
• This is not a one off. We are looking for ideas that focus people’s attention on 21 September
2012, but the real objective is to make this day one that is recognised and observed year after
year, that exists in the annual calendar regardless of Peace One Day’s involvement or repeated
marketing. We are looking for global institutionalisation.
• Peace Day will be different from any other day in the calendar. It must be cross-cultural,
apolitical and non denominational. Anyone must be able to engage with it and any
communication about Peace Day must adhere to these values.
• There is a role for everyone in solving this problem. Peace One Day aim to galvanise individuals
to make change or campaign for it in their own home, school, workplace or community. They
aim to galvanise corporates and commercial organisations to not only take action on 21
September, but to help to make it self-sustaining. And finally they aim to influence governments,
international organisations and groups involved in conflict already.
• Collaboration is key to Peace Day and could be more than key to your solution. We want to see
ideas that happen and the ability to making them happen may not rest entirely in your hands. Be
as creative in your collaborations as you are in your thinking, who else can you leverage to get
this done, students, suppliers, other creatives.
• Consider carefully how you present your ideas for the judges, the execution of them, and the way
that they were realised.
Your Toolkit
Visit www.whitepencil.org to download additional information and resources before you start work on
the brief. Become part of The White Pencil community by visiting www.facebook.com/thewhitepencil
Mandatories
• ‘In support of’ Peace One Day logo
• The date: “21 September – Peace Day”
Schedule
The competition is provisionally intended to run to the following schedule (but please see the rules of
the competition for full details of the finalised schedule and all relevant dates):
April 2011 White Pencil and Peace One Day brief launch
21 September 2011 Peace Day – One year countdown
3 September 2012 Entry opens for submissions
21 September 2012 Peace Day
24 October 2012 Entry closes for submissions
November 2012 Judging and winners announced
The White Pencil Award
The D&AD White Pencil is awarded to a creative idea that demonstrates the ability to influence real
and positive change in the world: an idea that raises awareness or changes behaviour around a
pressing global issue. A creative idea that changes the world for the better.
The brief is open to anyone, individuals, organisations or collaborations. The work must have been
produced and run, even if only on a very small scale. Read the Terms & Conditions for clarity on this,
but consider that we are looking for brilliant ideas and the determination and ability to drive those
ideas forward and make them happen.
This is a communication problem that, if solved could make a real difference. Not just awarenessraising, but behaviour changing: it is an opportunity to demonstrate the immensely powerful nature of creative thinking.
Judges will be evaluating work according to the following criteria: a highly original and inspiring idea,
well executed and relevant to its context.
Your work should also demonstrate:
• The power to effect real and positive change in the world through creative thinking and the
potential to make a real difference, not just in perceptions, but first and foremost in human
behaviours
• Global potential. Your resources may only allow you to implement your ideas in a limited way –
within your own region or locality for example, but judges will be looking for ideas that
demonstrate the ability, or show the potential to be executed anywhere in the world
• Media neutrality. The idea should be strong enough to be executed in different media and
cultural contexts
Benefits of entering:
• One White Pencil will be awarded every time the competition runs to the winning piece of work
• Additional exceptional entries will be promoted and awarded on a nominations list
• The nominations list will be promoted around the world and on dandad.org
Please give us a heads up at whitepencil@dandad.org before you launch your idea
Eligibility and rules
• Please refer to our Terms & Conditions and Partner Asset Guidelines to gain a full understanding
of the rules and eligibility
• Work will only be considered if it has run (see T&C’s for a full definition) and if it meets the brand
and taste guidelines set out by Peace One Day (see Partner Asset Guidelines).
• Peace One Day and D&AD reserve the right to request the removal from the public domain of
any work that infringes any of the Terms & Conditions or that could reasonably be considered to
bring Peace One Day, Peace Day and any of its current partners, sponsors or stakeholders into
disrepute.
• To the extent that there is any inconsistency between any provisions in this brief and any
provisions in the rules, the relevant provisions in the rules will apply.n humanity by rejecting conflict.
