The Story of Stuff - Red Cross Style

Nice animation from the Canadian Red Cross for the holiday season. It’s a call to donate instead of spending money on just things.
At their gift store visitors can buy a Family Survival Kit with stuff Canadian families really need.

Director: Andy Hall

Alzheimer’s ad shows a life in brain scans

This PSA for the Alzheimer Society of BC is simple, beautiful and moving:

And with #Decembeaver, growing stunt hair for cancer completely jumps the shark

Movember. Decembeard. Unshaven Mavens. Julyna. Now, stand-up comedian Sarah Cooper adds “Decembeaver” to the list of grooming slactivism.

We are all fairy godmothers

Damn. A PSA made me cry a little. When you’re a jaded adman like me, that’s a rare event.

Children’s Wish Foundation - Emily’s Story from CRUSH on Vimeo.

This animated short for the Children’s Wish Foundation is a true story. And that’s the part of it that brought a tear to my eye.

The funniest campaign this year: Africa For Norway

The Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund (SAIH) is campaigning only once or twice a year. But when they do it’s powerful. They understand how to make a viral.
SAIH is the solidarity organisation of students and academics in Norway. SAIH focuses on education in development cooperation, as well as North/South information and political advocacy in Norway.

Collecting radiators –
Shipping them over there –
Spread some warmth –
Spread some smiles –
Say yes to Radi-Aid.

The newest campaign is funny. Maybe the funniest campaign this year. They use the reversal technique in messaging.
It is done before like the Help Sweden campaign in 2008. SAIH is doing it more powerful by using the well-known clichés known from other aid and fundraising campaigns. Africa is helping Norway. Frostbite kills people too. Spread some warmth, spread some light and spread some smiles in Norway.

SAIH: “If we say Africa, what do you think about? Hunger, poverty, crime or AIDS? No wonder, because in fundraising campaigns and media that’s mainly what you hear about.”

The rise and fail of Julyna advertising

We’ve been writing about Julyna, a group of Toronto women’s answer to Movember, since it began in 2011. It’s a movement to raise awareness and funds for cervical cancer by growing their pubic hair and waxing it into whimsical designs. So obviously, it gets a lot of attention.

But the most interesting thing, for me, has been watching how much fun ad creatives have when they have a free reign to talk about women’s pubic areas.

First, Cossette Toronto came up with eye-catching short-and-curly typography:

Then, this year, it was the clever and evocative pubic hairdresser:

The most unexpected hospital fundraising campaign you will see today

No, she’s not one of those dolls. “Simone” is a Sim — a sophisticated patient simulator used to train medical residents at the Ottawa Hospital, in the capital of Canada.

The Ottawa Hospital Skills and Simulation Centre needs more types of these training models, and they’ve come up with an unusual way to do it: They’ve set up an Aviva Community Fund page to raise public support for their bid for more than $100,000 in Corporate Social Responsibility grants from Aviva Insurance.

The Aviva Community Fund competition allows individual Canadians to put forward project ideas for improving their communities through Aviva funding. This one was proposed by Ingrid Gingras, Partnership and Outreach Specialist at The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. And instead of just asking for the money, the Ottawa Hospital Foundation has developed a whole story about “Simone”:

Although loving her role as a patient simulator, Simone the female simulation mannequin is lonely. With your votes, we will be able to purchase an additional adult simulator - the SimMan, and an infant simulator - the SimBaby. These simulators would provide infinite learning scenarios for our residents (and would give Simone the companionship she deserves). Together, the Sim family would enable medical students and skilled physicians to develop new medical procedures and evaluate the latest innovations in patient care in a controlled environment where mistakes are part of the learning process and are of no risk to patients. 

Vote for our project and help us bring the Sim Family together!

Help the Relief Efforts with Origami #hurricane #sandy

Nice work from the Free Range Studios for the American Ad Council.
The Ad Council was able to act quickly after Hurricane Sandy to develop the PSAs as a result of their partnership with a new disaster relief coalition. Coalition members include the Center for International Disaster Information, the U.S. Agency for International Development, The UPS Foundation, the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster and InterAction.

The campaign is made to encourage Americans to make financial contributions to organizations conducting relief operations. These video and print ad illustrate the benefits of monetary donations and highlight that even a small donation can make a big impact. They direct audiences to Sandy.AdCouncil.org, which includes links to donate to relief organizations providing the most relevant and necessary supplies and services to those in need.

The Underdog Project

It’s about dogs. And then it isn’t. Actually is about both, as a life-skills and outreach program in South Africa for at-risk teenagers and shelter dogs.

The Underdog Project is about inspiring teenagers to reorient their lives and in doing this, helping their shelter dogs learn the skills they need to find their homes.

This November they’re doing The Underdog Charity Ride to raise funds for the project, stopping in at dog shelters en route, meeting and helping staff and dogs, and documenting their stay via website and social media stream.

Free For The Weekend? Israel-Loves-Iran Part 2

In the field of peacebuilding there is something called an “envisioned shared future.” It is when the opposing sides in any conflict stop for a minute and think.  It’s a ceasefire of the mind, if you will.  In the field of social advertising, few things show this better than two recent posters from the Israel-Loves-Iran campaign.  Fellow blogger and creative mastermind Marc Van Gurp originally posted about this wonderfully positive campaign here and is worth a second and third look. 

more after the break