Bringing attention to child abuse in youth sports globally.

The Oak Foundation came to Purpose with a particular challenge. With the rescheduling of the 2020 Olympics to summer 2021 due to COVID, it could be a great time to bring global attention to the rampant abuse children face in youth sports.

The US and Japan were picked to drive the campaign. The US due to the attention Team USA Women’s Gymnastics brought to sexual abuse in youth sports, and Japan as they were the hosts of the Olympics and unfortunately face their own epidemic of physical violence in youth sports.

The Purpose team was asked to make two distinct campaigns and landing pages, using two very different languages, able to adapt to two very different cultures and attitudes toward youth sports. A perfect challenge for Purpose resulting in work everyone was proud of.

US Campaign AD: Jessica McGee | Japan Campaign AD: Elena Scott | Video Director: Savannah O’leary | US/Japan CW: Me

US

The unfortunate reality of youth sports in the US is sexual abuse of young athletes is very real. The USA Women’s Gymnastics team brought necessary light to the issue, but the numbers are still staggering. To bring more attention and genuine action to this issue in the US, the Oak Foundation challenged the Purpose team to create content that not only educates on the issue, but also has strict demands. The time for talking was over, with the rescheduled Olympics upon us, it was time to act.

We were able to produce a high energy video to introduce the campaign, followed by a series of social ads to keep attention on the issue of sexual abuse in US youth sports throughout the whole of the rescheduled 2020 Olympic Games.

US Campaign Website

Japan Campaign

Japanese youth sports continue to face the issue of physical abuse during training. Quite often, coaches choose corporal punishment when mistakes are made. Over the decades, this has created a culture of silent acceptance of the abuse as “necessary” to achieve greatness. Our campaign in Japan was focused on ending that silence, and giving former youth athletes the confidence to speak against the common practice.

We had access to two survivors of physical abuse in Japanese youth sports. The first, a well known volleyball player in Japan, the second a youth swim coach. Both shared their stories (and their voice!) with us which we were able to produce into the below videos that ran digitally and on air in Japan (depending on location) during the Olympics.

We also produced the digital ads below as a way to keep the conversation going throughout the whole of the rescheduled 2020 Olympics.

Japan Campaign Website