To raise awareness about this “other” side of war, we developed a poster campaign targeting people at shooting ranges in Johannesburg. Unsuspecting visitors to the shooting range could live out war fantasies by shooting soldier-themed targets. When they got their targets back, turned it over, they were shocked discovering they had inadvertently also shot innocent civilians. The back of each poster featured a historical photograph of an actual casualty from one of the biggest wars of the 20th century: World War 1, 2 and the Korean War. In each case, more civilians were killed or wounded in the crossfire than soldiers.

To raise awareness, we developed a direct mail campaign targeting people at shooting ranges across Johannesburg. Unsuspecting visitors to the shooting range could live out their war fantasies by shooting at soldier-themed targets. When they got their targets back, turned it over, they were shocked to discover they had inadvertently also shot an innocent civilian. The back of each poster featured an historical photograph of an actual casualty from one of the biggest wars of the 20th century: World War 1, 2 and the Korean War. In each case, there were more civilians killed, wounded in the crossfire than soldiers.

They got the message loud and clear: There is another side to war. We encouraged them to visit the War Museum to learn more. In the month the campaign ran, the number of visits and guided tours shot up by 73%. But for the War Museum, the real success was changing perceptions about war, one visitor at a time.