Sappi Ideas that Matter - Book 7

Europe
Essay About the Relativity of Blindness
Amnistía Internacional
30
In order for the abuse of human rights to exist or to
continue, it must remain hidden. Often perpetuated
out of the public eye, always hidden by those with
the power to do so, the most powerful tool in the fight
against human rights violations is exposure. And that’s
just what this innovative campaign does, in the most
literal way.
Before your very eyes, violations you never knew existed
make themselves visible; everyday occurrences that
take place in all corners of the world, to many people.
The technique developed by Noé Mendoza Cuevas,
Art Director and designer at Señor Piruleta in Madrid,
involves printing on card with thermocromatic ink, that
reveals itself when temperatures change, presenting
the reader with yet another frightening occurrence that
Amnesty International (AI) fights every day to abolish.
With a network of more than 1.8 million members,
supporters and subscribers in over 150 countries
and territories in every region of the world, AI is held
together by dedicated individuals committed to a vision
of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human
rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and other international human rights standards.
A long-time AI devotee, Noé’s remarkable campaign
is the culmination of years of collaboration on AI’s
advertising and promotion in Spain. And thanks to his
deep understanding of the organisation, he was able to
identify the symbol of the candle as key to their mission,
he says.
“The candle needs people who want to light it, who
want to continue to shed light on violations, to enable
them to be investigated, to denounce them and bring
them to an end.”
With no fewer than 5,000 mailings, and a response rate
of 2.15% resulting in an impressive €20,000 in funding,
that’s a lot of people lighting a lot of candles.