WAR PRIVATISATION
MEDIA AND ACTIVISM
THOM CURTIS, JAMES PEARMAIN, CHRIS WARD.
OUR AIM:
To raise awareness of the companies employed by governments to carry out numerous tasks previously carried out by the Armed Forces.
To raise awareness of the legal problems surrounding private security.
WHAT IS WAR PRIVATISATION?
Private security firms hired to work in zones of conflict.
Rapidly growing industry – Highlighted by the war in Iraq, estimated to be worth over £56 million per year.
PROBLEMS:
Many firms are unregulated.
These companies are brought into contact with people protected by the International Humanitarian Law. (IHL.) However the International Commitee of the Red Cross fear that many of these companies do not respect this law.
It really is a legal grey area. Why?
They're not quite civilians, and not quite soldiers. i.e. American Security Firms in Iraq – work abroad so largely beyond the reach of U.S law, but contracted by U.S Government so beyond reach of Iraqi law.
Ahu Ghraib – contractors involved in a 3rd of incidents – none prosecuted.
HOWEVER:
Privately hired firms essential to U.S & U.K War effort – could not fight without them.
Last year War on Want (UK Charity) reported three private security employees to every one British soldier.
HOW WILL WE ACHIEVE OUR AIM?
With a poster, website, and Facebook group campaign. The poster will feature little detail and will rely heavily on mystery and ambiguity to draw people to the website. The posters will be placed around the University campus. As the posters are removed/damaged, the Facebook group will be created, with a similar degree of ambiguity, purely designed to get people to the website.
MARKETTING:
As already stated, it's a poster campaign.
Placed at university hot-spots.
No flyering, for various reasons.
The image could break out into online communities and forums as an e-poster.
We will be able to evaluate the success via a hit-counter on the website.
EVALUATION:
4 posters put up: 10/03/09
3 remaining 11/03/09
One moved to another location, without us knowing.
Website hits 17/03/09: 42
Facebook group launched: 02/04/09
Website hits 02/04/09: 55
Website hits 03/03/09: 190
Website hits 05/04/09: 217
Website hits 22/04/09: 245
To evaluate, the campaign hasn't been particularly successful. The idea of ambiguous posters and such, doesn't draw in as many people as they would in an 'ideal' world, where people are driven by intrigue. That said, the Facebook group has no information on it besides the URL. The Facebook group did increase the number of website hits massively, but there were still few comments left. That said, people that visitted may well have read through the information, and so on that front, we achieved our aim of informing people.
It seems, from this project, that the only way to really inform people is to stick it in their face (i.e. inviting to Facebook group) or perhaps intrigue them with something more than a slogan – perhaps something hinting at a personal gain.
