Millions of people worldwide are enslaved in sweatshops. People are aware yet ignore their conscience when it’s time to buy their clothes. The problem is perpetuated by the Western world’s demand for fast fashion. The non-profit organization Fashion Revolution advocates for a fashion industry that takes responsibility.

On April 24, 2013, the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh collapsed, killing 1,129, including many garment workers were forced to go back to work even after the building was deemed unsafe. Leveraging the two-year anniversary of the tragedy, Fashion Revolution sought to promote its ongoing cause, hoping to make a dramatic case on a shoestring budget.

So we decided to conduct a daring social experiment: would people still buy a cheap shirt when they see under which circumstances it is produced?

We developed a t-shirt vending machine and placed it in a busy shopping area in Berlin. People could buy the 2 Euro T-Shirt, but first they had to watch a video explaining how the T-shirt was made. Given the choice to Buy or Donate, people overwhelmingly made conscientious decisions, while the experiment itself sparked serious online discussion and major media coverage.

Reaching far beyond that single vending machine, the video spawned more than 3 million online views, 250,000 social media shares, and 440 million media impressions. And 90% of the people in our social experiment decided to donate rather than buy the t-shirt in what we hope becomes a fashionable precedent.

For the one day experiment, a vending machine was set up in the bustling Alexanderplatz shopping area in Berlin. The machine sold t-shirts at the bargain price of 2 Euros. Before receiving the shirt, the buyer simply had to watch a video first, depicting the life threatening conditions workers faced in order to make the t-shirt they were about to purchase. If after watching the video they still thought the t-shirt was worth 2 Euros, they could have it. If not, they had the choice to donate the money.

While consumers were making these decisions, hidden cameras were filming people’s reactions. The team was also at work to ensure our compelling social experiment was getting major media coverage.

Output/Awareness:

- 90% of the people changed their minds about buying the T-Shirt and decided to donate instead.

- 3+ million video views on Youtube within the first 7 days

- Worldwide press coverage with over 50 million media impressions

- Type of media: 10 TV stations, over 300 articles in leading online press, relevant blogs and Influencers

- Over 25 million social media impressions

- We reached more than 300 million people in over 200 countries

Knowledge/Consideration:

- #1 in the global ads chart

- Traditional media: favourable mentions: 100%, unfavourable mentions: 0%

- Social media: favourable mentions: 95%, unfavourable mentions: 5%

Action/Business Impact:

- YouTube followers: Increase of 425% directly linked to the idea

- Facebook Fans: Increase of over 100%

- 50% of all social media and news posts where shared further.