The Corruption Monuments Tour

Medals Won

• 🥇 GOLD – Campaign Under 250k
• 🥉 BRONZE – Best Results and ROI

Campaign Overview

In Guatemala, widespread corruption has left the country’s infrastructure riddled with incomplete bridges, schools, roads, and hospitals—symbolic monuments to governmental failures. With traditional media often co-opted by the government, Helps International, in collaboration with Castillo de If, created The Corruption Monuments Tour to give Guatemalans a voice.

Using tourism platforms and digital tools, the campaign exposed abandoned projects as virtual landmarks in an innovative, peaceful protest against corruption, empowering citizens to demand accountability.

Creative Concept

The campaign leveraged technology to turn symbols of corruption into tools for change:

• Virtual Tourism: Utilized tourism platforms to create a virtual tour showcasing incomplete and abandoned public works projects. Each “landmark” highlighted the funds stolen and the impact of corruption.
• Social Pressure: Provided tools for citizens to share the “monuments” across their personal networks, fostering public accountability and encouraging dialogue.
• National Movement: Called on citizens to sign petitions demanding legal action against corrupt officials, amplifying grassroots momentum.

Execution Strategy

1. Digital Deployment: Used popular tourism and social platforms to host the virtual tour, bypassing traditional media.
2. Crowdsourced Advocacy: Encouraged Guatemalans to spread awareness by sharing virtual landmarks and signing petitions.
3. Cost Efficiency: Delivered impactful results without any advertising investment, relying entirely on organic reach and public participation.

Impact and Results

The campaign delivered extraordinary results:

• 6M+ clicks to the virtual tour site in the first 24 hours.
• Achieved National Trend Topic #1 for 48 hours.
• Generated 12M+ organic impressions.
• Collected 3M+ petition signatures to demand accountability from corrupt officials.
• Secured over $2.5M in earned media value, entirely through organic coverage.

Why It Worked

The Corruption Monuments Tour ingeniously combined technology, civic activism, and cultural relevance to empower Guatemalans. Its innovative use of virtual tourism provided a safe yet impactful platform for citizens to protest corruption, driving significant action and awareness with minimal financial resources.