Likes Don’t Save Lives
UNICEF Sweden has a new ad campaign reminding people that while social media Likes are nice, what they really need is money to fund their vaccination campaigns.
As The Verge points out, “Facebook likes aren’t treated as currency in other commercial venues, so they shouldn’t be equated with charitable donations.”
And via The Atlantic:
In the beginning, organizations wanted you to like the heck out of their Facebook pages. Why? You know, community-building, awareness-raising, general “engagement”-upping…
…But one thing clicking “like” doesn’t do is, say, get malaria nets to African villages or boost funding for charity groups. And now that Facebook is nearly 9 years old and Twitter is 7, we’re seeing the inevitable backlash against social-media “slacktivism.”
Back to The Verge:
The campaign, created by ad agency Forsman & Bodenfors, takes a rather bold stance against the awareness campaigns that often spread across Facebook and other social media platforms. UNICEF officials acknowledge that such efforts can help introduce issues to a wider audience, though they fear that for most users, the action stops with the click of a button. To further stress this point, UNICEF Sweden released a bold poster alongside the video clips, saying that every like it receives on Facebook will result in exactly zero vaccinations.
That’s not to say “slacktivists” are a bad thing. Liking, sharing and reblogging do serve their purpose in bringing issues to a wider audience. But then what?
Last year, The Atlantic notes, Zeynep Tufekci, a sociology professor and a fellow at the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society, had this to say:
What is called commonly called slacktivism is not at all about “slacking activists;” rather it is about non-activists taking symbolic action—often in spheres traditionally engaged only by activists or professionals (governments, NGOs, international institutions.). Since these so-called “slacktivists” were never activists to begin with, they are not in dereliction of their activist duties. On the contrary, they are acting, symbolically and in a small way, in a sphere that has traditionally been closed off to “the masses” in any meaningful fashion.
The goal then for those working in social media is to simultaneously help the “slacktivist” set help you by building out ambient awareness of an issue through the messaging you create, while also giving activists and more consistently loyal proponents direct calls to action be it donations, volunteerism, network building, etc.
Meantime, if you’re moved to Like a cause, consider volunteering your time and/or other resources to it as well.
The other two commercials in UNICEF’s campaign can be viewed at The Verge. — Michael
(via courtenaybird)
According to a Trendrr report, “second screen activity” is up 127% since last year. But … what does that mean, exactly? More importantly, why is it important for brands?
Tumblr planning to bring ads to its mobile app in the first half of 2013
Tumblr loosened its stance on advertising and started displaying paid content in its dashboard last year, and now it seems similar ads will come to its mobile application soon.
A splendid piece of copywriting » ”Those customers you’re looking for, are looking for you - on Google.”
This is a follow-up to my earlier post about Volkswagen’s don’t-text-and-drive ad.
Advertising is full of amazing coincidences. The duplication of an idea isn’t necessarily a ripoff, because all of us are trolling in the same stream of pop culture ideas and images. It is inevitable that people will sometimes hook onto the same thought.
But, having said that, I just got the above student ad from Tom Monahan, who is a legendary creative director and, these days, sought-after creative coach. Here’s what Tom has to say: “Evan Dunn wrote and art directed these. He’s now a writer at Arnold, Boston, doing quite wonderful work. These outdoor boards were part of a pitch he participated in when he interned at agency Duffy & Shanley in Providence in 2009. They took the top student prize at the 2010 Hatch Awards in Boston. I’ve seen other somewhat similar text and drive campaigns since Evan did these. But nothing as close as the VW ad.”
The prize for originality definitely goes to Evan, because texting three years ago wasn’t the epidemic that it is today. However, in the interests of the teaching moment, I’d like to point out the ways in which Team Volkswagen improved on Evan’s brilliant idea.
First of all, advertising is often a game of inches in a literal sense. VW’s larger layout and added white space give the scary idea more room to breathe, thus making it more powerful. (Please keep this in mind when you’re doing spec ads for your book.)
Next, VW’s line more closely replicates what the autocorrect function would do to your text message. That makes the VW version more believable than Evan’s.
And finally, the dry understatement of the VW line makes it more frightening than Evan’s lines, which spell out the calamity. VW allows us to bring our own imaginings to the scene, and our own imagination is the most terrifying place in the universe. As I never tire of saying, the Alien movies stopped being scary once they started showing the whole creature.
Want to sell ads on your Twitter page? Get inspired »
Twitter, somewhat surprisingly, is fine with the arrangement. “The space is the user’s to customize, and we encourage them to be clear if they are promoting something there, for money or other consideration,” a Twitter rep told Advertising Age.
Notfound.org – 404 PagesAcross the European Union, thousands of children go missing every year. Thanks to the NotFound project, you can make a difference. Install the application and a picture of a missing child automatically gets published on every ‘page not found’ of your website.
Agency: Famous, Belgium
(Source: creativecriminals.com)
![The Story Of The Facebook Monster And The Wrong Weapon »
But, uh-oh, the problem was not where the monster’s weapon was used. The problem was, the monster had the wrong weapon. […] But there’s a happy ending. Even though the Facebook monster had the wrong weapon, advertising people were so fucking stupid kind and generous that he still made more money than you could ever imagine.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_markd4th6H1r8dxvuo1_250.jpg)
The Story Of The Facebook Monster And The Wrong Weapon »
But, uh-oh, the problem was not where the monster’s weapon was used. The problem was, the monster had the wrong weapon. […] But there’s a happy ending. Even though the Facebook monster had the wrong weapon, advertising people were so
fucking stupidkind and generous that he still made more money than you could ever imagine.
Samsung inadvertently promotes the iPhone 5 »
It’s always dangerous to make a comparison ad when your product is too close to the competition as it may promote the competition as much as your own. This is certainly the case with this Samsung ad that is suggesting that S3 has more features. On the other hand the dark screened iPhone looks elegant, mysterious and inviting next to the Galaxy which feels dated.
Comparison Advertising: “Research settles the question of the effectiveness of comparison ads.”
“Combat Cybercrime.
It is the new face of terrorism.”Advertising Agency: Lowe, Mumbai, India
Creative Director: Shishir Kapre
Art Director: Amol B. Sutar
Copywriter: Viraj Swaroop
Illustrator: Amol B. Sutar
It feels weird seeing ads targeted to me based on my employer. I do like underwear though…
Yet another case of target ad disaster on Facebook.
