• by Steve McClellan , February 2, 2014

Sadly, the Super Bowl and other mega sports events drive increased demand for commercial sex services and related activities such as sex trafficking to meet demand for such services. 

To help combat the illicit activities, McCann-Erickson has created a pro bono campaign designed to help curb demand for commercial sex services that will span film, print, outdoor, online and social media. 

The agency has created a Web site full of disheartening statistics, including the fact that one in three runaways will be approached by a human trafficker within 48 hours of being on the streets. 

The new campaign includes outdoor messaging along Super Bowl Boulevard, the 13-block section of New York City’s Broadway taken over by the National Football League for a carnival-type event dedicated to Super Bowl-related happenings. 

The idea is to make potential sex-trade customers aware of the horrors of trafficking and to make them think twice about fueling demand for it by paying for sex. 

“This campaign sends a powerful message: New York will not stand for sex trafficking during the big game or any day of the year,” said Emily Amick, coordinator of the New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition.” 

The campaign, themed “Not So Super,” includes a short online film that takes the viewer on an exploration of the human face of trafficking through the eyes of three women who have been trafficked. 

The Twitter handle @CaughtInTraffik will be used for 2 initiatives including “A Day In The Life,” a Twitter stream that will depict 24 hours in the life of someone who is sex-trafficked during a big game. The script for that effort was created in collaboration with The Art Effect All-Girl Theater Company, based upon their play “A Day in the Life,” inspired by real stories.

Also on social media is an initiative called “Put On Your Game Face,” which encourages people to place lipstick on their faces, as athletes do with eye black, and upload a photo to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #NoSoSuper.

"Sex trafficking is commonly perceived as something that happens far away, in other parts of the world,” said Tom Murphy, co-chief creative officer, McCann New York. “We are eager to try to change that perception."