The Big Issue Group (BIG) has created a striking out-of-home (OOH) campaign to reshape the public’s perception of what it means to sell the Big Issue, shedding light on the hard work of its vendors.
Teaming up with Global Street Art – the UK’s largest hand-painted advertising agency – the campaign takes the form of a large street mural which depicts a 3D ‘shop front’, featuring the campaign’s name – ‘The Street is my Store’.
The artwork – which is an impressive 7.4 metres high and 16 metres wide – displays an array of the street paper and social enterprise‘s most recent magazine covers.
Located outside Village underground station, the OOH advert is designed to highlight that, despite not selling from traditional physical outlets, vendors are still running small businesses, buying and selling copies of the magazines to earn a living in order to change their lives.
The Big Issue mural also features a large QR code inviting consumers to scan ‘if I’m not here’ – a new digital initiative promoting new ways for customers to interact with vendors and help bolster their incomes.
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The mural follows the success of Big Issue’s Cannes-winning ‘I’m Here’ campaign last year, which was devised by creative agency Forever Beta and again featured a QR code initiative.
Both campaigns highlight the importance of supporting vendors and draw attention to the fact that many people are unaware that vendors are running their own mini-enterprises.
According to BIG’s recent Impact Report, the cost-of-living crisis has left over 14 million people living in poverty. As a result, more individuals are seeking ways to make ends meet. Vendor numbers increased by 10% last year, accompanied by a sevenfold rise in demand for food and fuel support from vendors.
“The work we do has never been more important in light of the cost-of-living crisis. We have launched this campaign to showcase ways in which our vendors work hard to earn a living and that customers can now boost their local vendors’ income in even more ways, ” said BIG Group chief marketing officer, Zoe Hayward.
Global Street Art CEO and co-founder, Dr Lee Bofkin, commented: “We believe in the power of art to transform communities and inspire change. Painting a large mural for the Big Issue Group was a great opportunity to create something impactful and meaningful”.
