The heartbreaking human cost of modern slavery

Created by Brazilian agency Popcorn Comunicação, and directed by Robinson Matos, The Color of Coal is part of the #NoForcedLabor campaign and highlights the plight of indentured workers through a series of powerful images with an impassioned voiceover by Brazilian actress Dira Paes.

One unforgettable frame is of a pair of thin, dirty, work-worn feet in cheap plastic flip-flops, one foot swaddled in a filthy bandage. The text – "It is the color of coal, it tastes like sugar, it smells like gunpowder, it feels like cotton" – underlines the link between the products we use every day and the human misery their production entails.

Popcorn Creative Director Leo Sevaybricker commented: “When we hear somebody saying in 2022 about forced labour, it seems that we are back in the 18th century. But this evil heritage is still among us. We consume brands without worrying about what is behind that product. We can stop this practice and be an activist from our sofa.”