The archive · Public & Social · Marketing decision · 2022–2023
Mayor of London tells bystander men to have a word with yourself, then your mates
Ogilvy's campaign for the Mayor of London tells men who let misogyny pass that they are involved: have a word with yourself, then with your mates.
Mayor of London · Ogilvy
What it had to solve
Misogynistic behaviour is often a precursor to violence, yet men remain passive bystanders when they witness it. The Mayor of London needed to break that inertia and turn male witnesses into people who act.
How it works
Violence against women is often preceded by misogynistic behaviour, yet the men who witness it rarely intervene — they stay passive bystanders. That inertia was the behaviour the Mayor of London wanted to change: the brief to Ogilvy was to make men see that watching without acting makes them part of the problem.
The campaign's answer was the blunt call to action 'have a word with yourself, then your mates'. Across a raw and unflinching integrated campaign, it tells men who stand by and allow misogynistic behaviour to happen that they too are involved: they should ask themselves whether it is acceptable to witness it and do nothing, then speak to the men around them. The message deliberately steers away from blaming women — neither as instigators nor as fearful victims — and puts the work of change on men.
Judges who reviewed the work for D&AD called it a simple messaging campaign that advocates men speak up and call out gender-based violence. One juror described it as a refreshing solution to an age-old problem that squarely puts the onus on men to question their own behaviour and their mates' misogynistic biases, and the work is archived among D&AD's Impact entries for its directness.
Why it lands
- It inverts who the ad is for: the message addresses the passive witness rather than the aggressor or the victim, so every man watching has to check himself.
- The two-step phrasing makes action cheap to start: a private conversation with yourself first, then a conversation with your mates.
- Saying 'you too are involved' converts silence itself into the behaviour to change, closing the 'it's not my business' escape route.
- Steering away from blaming women — as instigators or as fearful victims — kept the audience fixed on the men whose behaviour the campaign needed to shift.
What it did
The campaign reframed a bystander's silence as participation and put the responsibility for change on men. D&AD judges praised it as a simple messaging campaign that advocates for men to speak up and call out gender-based violence, and as a refreshing solution that questions men's own behaviour and biases rather than blaming women.
What you can take
To move passive bystanders, name them in the message: starting with 'have a word with yourself' removes the excuse that the problem belongs to someone else.
Since then
Have a Word entered the D&AD Awards archive, where the jury read it as a simple, direct messaging campaign advocating that men speak up and call out gender-based violence. One juror called it refreshing for putting the onus on men to question their own tolerance and their mates' misogynistic biases — an approach that treats the bystander, not the victim, as the behaviour to change.
Sources
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Your turn
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