Meeting the brief of tackling gun violence

By Delano Chengan, Creative director, M+C Saatchi Abel

This article was first published in The Drum on 18 June 2025.

There is beauty in the power that creativity has in helping solve complex problems. One of the most complex problems facing the world, and especially South Africa, is the rise in gun violence. This is a story about using creativity to tackle this issue, which has reached levels last seen as the country was transitioning to democracy.

South Africa is desperate for meaningful action. Let’s look at the numbers. In the 2023/24 year, there were 27,621 murders in the country, with guns the most common weapon used. Annual crime statistics reveal that every day in South Africa, there are 33 gun-related deaths – that’s three times the murder rate by stabbing. More people are shot dead in South Africa than die on the country’s roads.

Take a moment to think about where you are in the world right now, reading this. There are likely people in the streets. Children playing in parks. Now, consider that in South Africa – with guns casting a long shadow over communities – children sadly become victims of gun violence.

In the 2023/24 period, more than 260 children were killed in shootings, many caught in the crossfire of gang shootings, while doing nothing more than innocently playing outside.

Emotions, not data

We knew we needed to show South Africans what the future may hold if gun violence isn't addressed, by proposing an outrageous solution to an outrageous problem. Gun Free South Africa works to reduce gun violence by advocating for stricter firearm regulations, removing illegal guns from circulation, and promoting safer communities.

The more one hears about something, the more people might become desensitised. Sadly, this is the case in South Africa. Gun violence is so pervasive, sadly so normalised, that it often does not provoke a sense of outrage or urgency for action. And so, ahead of the brief to tackle gun violence, public ‘numbness’ was identified as a barrier to advocacy and policy action.

We knew, right off the bat, that to elicit the desired action, the campaign would need to hinge on emotional provocation, and not data. We knew that instead of simply sharing more statistics, the campaign would need to provoke emotions in order to rekindle empathy and outrage.

The solution? The outrageous concept of a bulletproof playground – to dramatise the absurd reality we South Africans live in.

Impossible to ignore

‘Bullet Proof Park’ is a real children’s playground surrounded by a cube of bulletproof glass. But it’s also a story about an innovative proposal that led to real change.

‘Bullet Proof Park’ viscerally demonstrated the absurdity of children needing ballistic protection just to do what children do… play! The campaign sparked outrage and turned passive awareness into engagement and activism.

By publicising an outrageous solution to protect the most vulnerable from the outrageous reality of South Africa’s gun violence crisis, the Bullet Proof Park concept highlighted the power of creativity to find real, sustainable solutions for the world’s problems – no matter how big they are.

Provoking a reaction

The campaign was launched in the run-up to South Africa’s 2024 national elections. This was important because while safety generally was a concern for voters, the role of guns in driving violent crime and the centrality of gun control in addressing this crisis were topics absent from the election agenda.

That needed to change. The campaign achieved a massive impact, with just under 99 million people reached with no media spend. This proved, with clarity, that ideas, not budgets, drive change. The campaign provoked responses from key figures, including the Western Cape provincial minister of community safety and the South African national police commissioner. It even influenced President Ramaphosa’s annual State of the Nation Address, where he addressed gun violence directly.

Many of these reactions used language from the campaign itself, and the campaign mobilised both community voices and policymakers, while providing a blueprint on how to bridge grassroots activism and national policy reform. Ultimately, the campaign converted outrage into action. And this is how we met the brief of tackling gun violence.

The campaign directed public attention to advocacy for meaningful reforms in the country. It drove a 732% increase in public interest and achieved more than R13m in earned media value. On social media, there was a 227% increase in the mentions of our client, Gun Free SA.

We created a moment of reflection for the national consciousness, not only by competing with a flood of other stories, but ensuring that the most urgent one emerged on top.