The campaign Swear on the Law, created and executed by McCann Belgrade for the Autonomous Women’s Center, won the Grand Prix in the Social category at the Purpose Campaign Festival. Focused on combating so-called “revenge pornography,” the campaign resonated strongly with the public, gathering tens of thousands of signatures for a petition, which led to a positive response from the Ministry of Justice to penalize the unauthorized sharing of intimate content.
The Purpose Campaign Festival, now in its fourth year, is the first socially responsible communication festival in Serbia and the region and among the first of its kind worldwide.
“McCann Belgrade continues to support initiatives of broader social significance. This is support we believe in and carefully nurture. We know that our industry can and should contribute to meaningful societal changes. We thank the Autonomous Women’s Center for trusting that our campaign could mobilize the public to support a petition leading to legislative change,” said Jana Savić Rastovac, Executive Creative Director at McCann Belgrade.
The campaign Swear on the Law sends a strong message in the fight against the misuse and unauthorized sharing of intimate photos and videos. It directly calls on citizens to sign a petition with a clear goal—passing a law that criminalizes unauthorized sharing of intimate content. The campaign utilized common promises and oaths often used by men to persuade potential victims to share intimate photos and videos without hesitation. These grand words and promises, such as “I swear on my mother,” “I swear on everything,” “on my eyes,” and “on my children,” are often easily broken and were intentionally framed in the form of a legal statement.
As a result of the successfully executed campaign, tens of thousands of citizens signed the petition, prompting the Ministry of Justice to respond to the appeal of numerous organizations and petition signatories by proposing a new criminal offense: Unauthorized Sharing and Misuse of Intimate Content in the Criminal Code.
“We were pleasantly surprised by the massive response not just from women but also from men, who were the primary target of this campaign. When we started, we didn’t expect that nearly 22,000 citizens, as well as public figures and civil society organizations, would support the petition. The synergy between all of us – representatives of the agency, public figures, parliament members, activists, and citizens – led to the Ministry of Justice finally hearing us after two years of advocating for this new criminal offense,” said Vanja Macanović from the Autonomous Women’s Center.
The introduction of this law, which criminalizes the unauthorized sharing of intimate content, represents a step forward in creating a society that respects privacy and the individual rights of every person. This initiative, aimed at protecting victims of all ages, also sends a strong message that such forms of digital abuse will not be tolerated.
Traditionally, on International Children’s Day, the Purpose Campaign Festival awards the best socially responsible campaigns. This year, for the first time, the festival recognized campaigns in three categories: eco (green), social (yellow), and a new gender category (red) dedicated to gender equality. The festival encourages companies to align their communication goals with the interests of society as a whole, combining their business purpose with the well-being of individuals and the community.
