#ShavetoRemember

You can’t avoid it. Every news cycle confirms that the world is heading in a disturbing new direction. One where authoritarianism, xenophobia, bigotry and corruption threatens to be the new normal. While our leaders spew their hateful vitriol all over social media, we realise the importance of telling the story of different kind of leader. One that was condemned to a prison cell for 27 years at the hands of a brutal Apartheid regime, and emerged only to choose love and forgiveness over hate. One that led his country to a peaceful democracy where every race, religion and creed would be free and equal. His name is Nelson Mandela and the world needs him now more than ever. But as Barack Obama remarked in his recent speech marking the former president’s centenary memorial, “We will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again. But let me say to the young people of Africa and the young people around the world -- you, too, can make his life’s work your own.”
In this context Ogilvy Johannesburg, in partnership with Philips and The Nelson Mandela Foundation conceived a way to turn Mandela’s legacy into a tangible action that is accessible to all. #ShavetoRemember, a call to action for all people from South Africa and beyond, to find the Mandela within them in them by getting his iconic haircut. It’s more than a hairstyle. Getting Madiba line shaved into your hair is a visceral commitment to bring those values to a divided world – no matter who you are, where you come from or how small your sphere of influence is. What has turned into a social movement was launched with a film.
The film opens with a recording of Mandela's inaugural speech. This sets the scene as his words are delivered by a diverse cast of South Africans. Every word in the ad is Mandela’s own.
The characters, all with the famous Mandela line shaved into their hair, use Mandela’s wisdom as inspiration and guidance in their everyday lives and struggles, The underlying narrative being that everyone has a Mandela in them.