What is Slap her about?

Slap her is a 2015 digital campaign created by Fanpage.it in Italy, addressing the pervasive issue of domestic abuse and violence against women. The campaign centers on a social experiment in which young boys are asked to slap a girl, capturing their genuine reactions on video. By focusing on the innocence and instinctive responses of children, the campaign exposes societal attitudes toward gender-based violence and challenges viewers to reflect on cultural norms. With over 46 million views, Slap her leverages digital media to provoke public discourse and raise awareness about femicide and domestic violence in the Italian context.

What creative device does Slap her use?

Slap her employs the "symbolize the problem" technique, classified as FORMAT#3 in Clapboard's 12-format taxonomy. Instead of depicting actual instances of domestic violence, the campaign constructs a symbolic scenario: boys are asked to slap a girl, and their discomfort or refusal becomes a metaphor for broader societal attitudes toward violence against women. This staged, experimental setup serves as an analogy, prompting viewers to confront the normalization of gender-based violence by highlighting the moral intuition and innocence of children rather than presenting literal representations or direct solutions.

What is the campaign proposition for Slap her?

The campaign proposition for Slap her is to confront deeply rooted cultural attitudes toward domestic abuse and femicide in Italy by leveraging the candid, unfiltered reactions of children when asked to commit an act of violence. Fanpage.it positions itself as a catalyst for critical reflection, using social experiments to provoke dialogue and challenge the normalization of gender-based violence. By humanizing the issue through the lens of childhood innocence, the campaign aims to make the subject accessible and emotionally resonant, targeting socially conscious viewers and advocates for gender rights within the digital media and public interest sectors.

How does Slap her rank in Clapboard's archive?

Slap her holds a Clapboard Campaign Score of 88/100 in Clapboard's global ad archive. This score reflects the campaign's creative ambition, execution quality, and cultural relevance in addressing a critical human rights issue through a provocative and emotionally charged digital format.

Who are the competitors in Fanpage.it's category?

In the Italian media and public interest sector, Fanpage.it competes with several prominent brands. Corriere della Sera is recognized for its credibility and comprehensive investigative journalism on social issues, while La Repubblica distinguishes itself with a progressive editorial stance and digital storytelling focused on human rights. Il Fatto Quotidiano appeals to readers seeking political transparency and accountability, often exposing systemic failures through investigative reports. Rai News24 leverages its public broadcaster status for balanced national coverage and educational initiatives, and Sky TG24 delivers timely, multimedia news content with strong digital engagement, bringing urgent social topics to a diverse audience.

This Fanpage.it campaign uses a social experiment with children to expose early attitudes to gender violence— Clapboard's Global Ad Archive.

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Description

Fanpage.it’s 2015 digital campaign Slap her: children's reactions, operating in the media and entertainment category, carves a potent narrative to confront Italy’s endemic issue of domestic abuse while ingeniously utilizing an experimental scenario that puts society’s attitudes toward gender violence under a magnifying glass. Conceived at a time when a United Nations report named domestic abuse the country’s most pervasive form of violence—exacerbated by former Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s use of the term femicide to underline the gravity—the campaign enlists a disarming setup: everyday boys are introduced to a young girl by producers and then asked a simple but jarring question—will you slap her? The camera captures the discomfort, refusal, and bewilderment in the children’s responses, transforming their natural moral compasses into an oblique but piercing symbol of resistance against violence. Rather than relying on sensationalist or literal depictions of abuse, Fanpage.it and its parent Ciaopeople Media Group commit to what Clapboard’s taxonomy classifies as FORMAT#3—Symbolize the Problem, engineering a narrative device where the children's innocence and spontaneous values embody a critical societal counterpoint, starkly contrasting the devastating realities facing women in Italian society. The campaign doesn’t preach at viewers or dramatize violence but instead foregrounds the tension between learned behaviors and innate ethics, inviting audiences to reflect on cultural normalization and the root conditions that perpetuate domestic abuse. Released exclusively in digital form, the initiative harnessed the participatory and viral nature of online platforms to unprecedented effect, amassing more than 46 million views and sparking tens of thousands of comments, making it impossible for the audience to look away from the quiet, devastating power of its message. In eschewing the traditional tropes of fear-based or shock tactics, Slap her: children's reactions uses stark simplicity and genuine emotion to galvanize public discourse, positioning Fanpage.it as a leading force for social engagement within Italy’s media landscape. The campaign earns 88/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. Slap her stands as a reference point for how the public interest sector can provoke mass reflection on urgent social issues by reimagining the way sensitive subjects are visualized, not with brutality or statistics alone but through human truth seen anew.