Monday 22 October 2012

#FirstWorldProblems


In a new advert for Water is Life, the charity features Haitian children and adults reading out tweets that used the #firstworldproblems hashtag. The 1-minute video features "complaints" such as "I hate it when my neighbors block their wifi." and "I hate when my phone charger won’t reach my bed". The video's concept of taking what has become a popular theme within social media and using it to expose the irony of the #FirstWorldProblems Twitter hashtag is brilliant. Not only does it make you cringe as they repeat the tweets you know you have posted this week, it makes you realise what is actually going on outside the not-so-crazy world of social media. DDB delivers one of the first campaigns that opts to eliminate the hashtag rather than encourage people to use it. What makes the whole campaign that bit more moving is the personalized responses in which various Haitians console those who have used the hashtag on Twitter. I think this is probably one of the best responses I have ever seen a charity create in order to raise awareness of those who are struggling to gain even their basic needs.

Sunday 7 October 2012

Helpless


For the past few months I have been exploring the ways in which brands use shock tactics to raise awareness and looking at how effective they are. This short film 'Helpless' is the definition of an extremely effective use of shock tactics. Telling the story of a man who's diagnosed with cancer, undergoes treatment, and lives, only to choke to death at a family gathering because no one knows basic first aid that could save his life. The campaign was developed after a recent study by St John's Ambulance discovered that over four times as many of us think more people die from cancer than a lack of first aid. St John Ambulance is now appealing to people to obtain a free pocket-sized guide featuring first aid skills that can help in the five life-threatening situations by texting HELP to 80039. The execution of the idea has been handled with such sensitivity whilst getting across the hard hitting statistic that 140,000 people a year die in situations where first aid could have helped. A very impressive approach to an issue that many people dont consider.