Home Office: Cutting the cost of crime

Theft costs British society an estimated £9.5 billion per year. Many of these thefts are opportunistic crimes that can be easily avoided if people take simple preventative measures.

The challenge was to find a single campaign idea that could motivate a core target audience most at risk of crime and demonstrate measures they could take to prevent it. Using a single, humorous campaign idea, executed through TV, radio and print, the strategy was to dramatise how thieves saw their victims as stupidly careless. The campaign reduced the cost of crime to the taxpayer by £189 million and generated payback of £14 for every £1 spent.