Paint banknotes to draw attention to the delicate situation of local businesses
That discretion is overrated is something that was very clear to some of the people who joined #TicketsFromHere, a social and vindictive action that began asking that the name of the town in which one was located and the aforementioned hashtag be noted on a bill that would later be used to pay at a local store, and that has ended up turning paper money into canvases that house works of art.
The objective of this non-profit initiative? Make visible the situation that small businesses are experiencing and value social and economic work What do they do when they raise the blind every day?
"Why don't we pass the baton to the consumer and tell him that he too can choose?"
“As soon as the quarantine began, when we didn't know if we were going to be there for 15 days or more or how big the impact it could have, we thought of the first victims. Before starting to think about what we had to do to save ourselves from the Apocalypse, We thought of a group to which we could lend a hand” , explains to Traveler.es the promoter of this initiative, Guille Viglione, president and executive creative director of the former advertising agency Dimension.
They knew how to see the new difficulties that small businesses, already heavily affected by unsustainable competition from department stores and chain stores and new online shopping habits, I was going to have to face the health crisis caused by Covid-19.
The figures prove them right. Here are the forecasts Spanish Confederation of Commerce which point out that more than 30% of businesses (about 120,000 establishments) could close before the end of 2020, especially after the situation has worsened due to "the slowdown in consumption during the summer period, marked by the lack of tourism and a disastrous sales campaign".
With this in mind and being clear, as Viglione points out, that "local commerce is the backbone of our cities and towns", #BilletesDeAquí was created, "as a mobilizing element that ignites the spark of activism and solidarity with this sector”.
Who joins does not receive anything material in return. The initiative is planned so that whoever is encouraged to participate develops a commitment to an economic model on a human scale, in which the local economy prevails. Hence, from Dimension they opted for use tickets.
There are those who have ended up turning paper money into canvases that house works of art
“It seemed to us that it was a revolutionary path in which we make the messages travel attached to the problem”, Viglione account. But there is more.
“We wanted to transfer the responsibility to the citizens. We think that for a few years we have started a journey that has taken us from being citizens to being consumers. Our signs of identity are certain brands and, although as citizens we have decision-making bodies that are elections, every day we choose when we buy: we buy tomatoes from the orchard or plastic, pineapples that have traveled 6,000 kilometers or that are local. Why don't we pass the baton to the consumer and tell him that he too can choose? why not with a part of his money he tries to reactivate the local economy And what better message than when he has it in his hand and can be part of the campaign and become a protagonist?
The action is simple and, a priori, discreet. That discretion that we mentioned at the beginning. Participating is as easy as write on one or more bills that are later to be put into circulation the name of the town in which the person resides and the hashtag #BilletesDeAquí, which will then also be used to share it on social networks, also naming the establishment where it will be spent.
"One of the things we had to be careful about was not staining sensitive areas" that will invalidate the ticket. Hence the recommendation to only include these two aspects, taking into account the Decision of the European Central Bank of April 19, 2013 (ECB/2013/10) on denominations, specifications, reproduction, exchange and withdrawal of euro banknotes, which establishes that : “Banknotes that are damaged to a lesser extent, for example, by presenting annotations, numbers or short phrases, will not be considered intentionally damaged.”
Paint the bills of originality, beauty, humor, culture and art. A lot of art
However, the supportiveness and networking of the initiative inspired many of those who decided to participate, taking them to paint tickets for originality, beauty, humor, culture and art. A lot of art. So much so that some of the pure painted ones that are no longer legal tender. Now, as Viglione says, “some are also worth more than before because many well-known artists have participated”. Namely, names like Jesus Mari Lazkano, Judas Arrieta, Ángela Alonso, Marc Pe, Anna Aromir, Óscar Casla, Asier Sanz, Ane Meoki, Isabel Mancebo or Txema Ruiz.
“In general, the response has been very good. It is a battle that we have never tried to win because the battle against electronic commerce… (…) What we wanted was to light a fuse and for each one to take over and be able to make the campaign bigger. Banknotes have arrived from Europe”, says Viglione who assures that They are already raised to make an exhibition.
And yes, on the part of the merchants the reaction has also been positive. "Even merchant associations have contacted us and have asked us for identification to put in their stores." They asked them that they accept the written banknotes, that they keep them in circulation and that they place the trade mark attached to the initiative in their shop window and on their social networks to make it known among your contacts. All this can be downloaded through the web (they are in Spanish, Basque, Catalan and Galician).
“Everyone has flipped. He also shows that when you set out to help, people join in and join in with delight and spontaneously”.
You don't need to emulate Velázquez, by putting the name of your town and the #BilletesDeAquí you will already be participating