Transport for London (TfL) has launched “Act Like a Friend,” a campaign developed with creative agency of record VCCP and WPP Media’s Wavemaker team, which developed the strategy and media planning. The campaign aims to empower passengers to safely intervene when they witness hate crime, sexual harassment or offenses on the network, while reinforcing the message that criminal behavior has serious consequences.
This new behavior change campaign comes out during National Hate Crime Awareness Week (October 11-18) in the U.K. and shows Londoners ways to step in safely when they see someone being harassed or abused. Running alongside it is ‘Tackling Crime’, a complementary strand that reminds perpetrators that enforcement is active, visible, and effective.
At the heart of the “Act Like a Friend” campaign is a powerful behavioral insight: in the moment, many Londoners want to help but aren’t always sure how to. Research showed that people often feel paralyzed without a clear, simple action. “Act like a friend” answers this with easy, intuitive ways bystanders can defuse the situation by supporting the victim, rather than confronting the perpetrator – whether that is pretending to already know the victim, starting up a friendly conversation with them, or simply asking them if they are okay. By reframing bystander action as something as natural as “being a friend”, the campaign creates a safer space for travelers. This latest phase builds on TfL’s ongoing bystander intervention messaging first launched in 2022, which encourages Londoners to intervene when it’s safe to do so.
The two-minute campaign hero film was directed by Edem Kelman, a filmmaker with a background in compelling human storytelling. He was brought onboard with the project, to sensitively do justice to the campaign’s real stories of Londoners “acting like a friend.” My Accomplice and VCCP’s content studio Girl&Bear led production across the hero film and cutdowns for digital, broadcast on video on demand and social. The film is supported by a wider multi-channel rollout spanning digital out-of-home, out-of-home, online video, social and targeted activations.
The campaign will run through November 24 across cinema, digital, social and out-of-home channels.
