Battlefront and Benetton both launch campaigns for youth employment

A recent graduate organised a  ‘flash job’ of unemployed youngsters to storm Westfield London, in a bid to prove their excellent customer service skills, employability and to help to raise awareness about the issue of youth unemployment.

Myles (22), an unemployed graduate from the West Midlands is a Campaigner for Channel 4’s Battlefront and wants to raise public awareness of the problem and change the perception of the young and unemployed. Myles will chart his experience online at channel4.com/battlefront.

After several months of searching, Myles was unable to find a job. With over one million young people currently unemployed in the UK, this is unfortunately a common scenario for many.

The topic of youth unemployment has also become re-occurring subject matter on the news agenda, because of this Channel 4 launched the fourth series of its Emmy award-winning campaigning project ‘Battlefront’, which profiles the journey of four young campaigners on a mission to tackle the biggest issue facing today’s youth.

Produced by Raw Television for Channel 4 Education, this year Battlefront has scoured the country for unemployed and underemployed young people, to run 2012’s Battlefront campaign. For the first time, Battlefront have offered four young people a full time job for three months, as part of the Battlefront production team.

The selected Battlefronters will use their personal experiences and travel the UK to investigate the massive problem of Britain’s out-of-work 16-24-year-olds, guided and supported by experts and celebrity mentors as they cook up some sensational stunts to put the Campaign to Combat Youth Unemployment on the map – making both employers and politicians sit up and take notice. They will challenge the powers-that-be and their own peers as they set out to prove that the youth of the UK desperately want to work and are prepared to do whatever it takes to get a job.

One of those campaigners is Kealy from West London. A single mum of two, Kealy has been living on benefits for the last four years. She needs to get a job that will earn her enough money to cover all her bills plus childcare whilst she’s at work. She has been mentored by James Caan once from Dragons’ Den. For Kealy, getting a job would be a dream come true.

Last year, the Battlefront campaigners achieved some fantastic results. They lobbied for 1000 new work experiences places for young people, signed up thousands of new organ donors, got government ministers talking about young people’s mental health, raised awareness about the danger to Orangutans from unsustainable palm oil, and got young people to start playing a sport they love. Over three seasons, Battlefronters have tackled everything from knife and gun crime to autism in the workplace. Plus they have had questions asked in the Houses of Parliament three times in the past year.

United Colors of Benetton has also just announced its contribution to the youth non-employment issue, a crucial theme for the future of our planet and to which the brand wants to draw the public’s attention.

The UNEMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR communication campaign, set up under the aegis of the UNHATE Foundation, seeks to challenge clichés about youth non-employment and asserts a belief in the creativity of the world’s youth.

Through it, the UNHATE Foundation, whose aim is to promote a culture of non-hate, will support youth to become actors of change against indifference and stigma.

According to its tradition of raising awareness for socially delicate and controversial issues, United Colors of Benetton wants to help change perceptions of non-employed youth. This is in line with the brand’s entrepreneurial, social and ethical values.

During the 2011 UNHATE campaign, as many as 500 million people from around the world participated in a broad range of traditional and digital communication activities. Young non-employed people, between the ages of 18 and 30, are invited to submit outlines of projects to be supported: within the UNHATE Foundation mission, their ideas must lead to concrete social impact in their community. The outlines for projects in different areas (including artistic projects) will be submitted to the UNHATE Foundation website and will be voted by the online community. Their choice of the 100 most deserving projects will receive support from the UNHATE Foundation to turn these projects into reality.

United Colors of Benetton wants to send a positive message of hope to celebrate the ability of young people to find new, intelligent and creative ways of facing the problem of unemployment and finding their own unique solution.

“The new United Colors of Benetton communication campaign presents a realistic portrait of today’s society by actively tackling a current problem, that of youth non-employment and the potential conflict between generations, in order to show it in a new light and create value for the immense human capital of young people”, said Alessandro Benetton, chairman of the Benetton Group. “We can’t change the world but United Colors of Benetton wants to use its voice to champion young people and celebrate their strength and value”.

The UNEMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR communication campaign is supported by a global set of communication activities that present also a series of portrait photos of NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) below the age of 30. The NEETs have been selected worldwide on the basis of profiles that narrated their identity built on study and commitment as well as their interests and passions.

To support this initiative, United Colors of Benetton will release a film paying homage to today’s youth. The film is an unfiltered portrayal of the everyday life of four young NEETs. We see how they fight to find a job while at the same time fighting for their dignity, against indifference and stigma. Through a partnership with MTV and digital media, United Colors of Benetton will broadcast these ads and call to action, reaching more than 35 countries. This communication project will run globally, in print and virally, through photographs and videos, using social media and an ironic approach to facilitate the involvement of young people who can help face the global problem of unemployment.