The Osocio bloggers choose the best campaign every month. At the end of the year we will have twelve great campaigns from which we will choose the Campaign of the Year.
The Campaign of the Month of February is without any doubt the Zero Rupee Notes campaign from 5thpillar. Almost every blogger voted this campaign as favourite.
See the post here.
“One such story was our earlier case about the old lady and her troubles with the Revenue Department official over a land title. Fed up with requests for bribes and equipped with a zero rupee note, the old lady handed the note to the official. He was stunned. Remarkably, the official stood up from his seat, offered her a chair, offered her tea and gave her the title she had been seeking for the last year and a half to obtain without success.”
Vending machines in subways usually offer you nothing else but crap. During February the 3 million daily passengers of the São Paulo subway were offered something good for a change. On one row of different vending machines in the city pictures of children holding cards of $ 1.00, $ 2.00 and $ 5.00 were placed. The main title explains: “With your help we can get these children of the streets”.
The campaign is developed by Giovanni+DraftFcb in partnership with 24x7 Cultural to raise funds for Fundação Abrinq; a nonprofit institution that aims at raising awareness about issues related to the rights of children and adolescents, promoting human rights and citizenship.
I like this campaign because the vending machines not only turn out to be great selling points for ‘Good’, resulting in donations, but the location of the vending machines play an important part in the story being told. Guerilla marketing is not always used in the right way. Giovanni+DraftFcb, however, did a great job picking the right medium and using this perfect for this campaign.
Great artwork from Andrea Castelletti. The poster was selected as one of the best of the 2009’s Poster4Tomorrow contest and is currently touring Europe and parts of the Middle East.
The poster shows an image of controversial Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad standing before a large crowd of himself. Even the colors used are all symbolic, invoking memories of this past springs presidential elections and the civil unrest that followed.
Last year we posted about the outdoor campaign from Stop the Traffik, the movement working to battle the problem of human trafficking. This time, Leagas Delaney London is urging people to be more aware of the situation—similar to the “si ves algo, di algo” posters plastered all over US public transportation.
This spot shows a girl being dragged out of her classroom in the UK, as her teacher and classmates sit, oblivious. Voice over: “Don’t be oblivious to the dangers of human trafficking. Every minute another young person is trafficked into sexual exploitation.”
In a similar spot, a young boy is taken from the dinner table while his family continues to eat and talk. Similar voice-over, but this one makes the point about kids being taken and forced into hard labor.
Indian NGO Fifth Pillar have come up with a new weapon in the fight against corruption – a zero rupee note that can be handed to those demanding a bribe. Genius idea. (NB the organisation’s website is temporarily suspended, perhaps because of all the traffic this idea is generating. But you can search to find lots of inspiring stories about the note.)
Normally human rights ngo’s like Amnesty International speak for those who can’t. In this shocking psa the victims themselves speak shout. For me the message hits me right between the eyes. Scaring and confrontating.
Leo Burnett Venezuela recruited six film directors to create this explanation of the work of Amnesty.
Amnesty International: “We work for those who know more about human rights. The ones who don’t have any,”
“The barrier is sometimes just a road. Due to roads that are not planned according to their needs, our disabled friends are pushed outside the daily life. Are you aware?”
Great follow up containing three ads from a campaign for Engelleri Kaldır made by McCann Erickson Istanbul. Engelleri Kaldır is the ‘Removing barriers movement’ (RBM), a worldwide Istanbul based movement of people who campaign for human rights.
This outdoor ad is part of a new campaign from Kenya. It is a nationwide multimedia campaign to raise awareness and stimulate discussions on issues related to human trafficking. The campaign launched at 12 November in Eldoret in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province.
The Kaa Chonjo (Watch Out!) campaign will use a wide variety of communication channels including radio, television, mobile cinemas, billboards, posters and road shows to raise awareness among communities living in Northern Kenya and the North Rift Valley made vulnerable by drought, the food crisis, as well as civil and political unrest, all of which have often resulted in forced displacement.
The information campaign, which will run until the end of the year, is part of a larger project to provide assistance to vulnerable families in the Rift Valley and Northern Regions of Kenya funded by the Japanese government and supported by its Kenyan counterpart.
“Forced displacement disrupts social and economic support systems within communities and is conducive for traffickers to recruit, transport and exploit women, children and men,” says IOM’s regional counter-trafficking officer Tal Raviv in Nairobi.
An assessment carried out by IOM in the target regions establishes poverty and the search for livelihood as key factors that render people vulnerable to trafficking. It notes for instance that impoverished families from the North Rift Valley tend to migrate to coastal areas in search of employment in the hospitality sector, where they are exposed to exploitation.
In addition to awareness raising activities, IOM’s counter-trafficking team has established a referral system that enables vulnerable households within the targeted areas to embark on livelihood activities.
“Providing grants for small scale entrepreneurship or to help poor families send their children to school reduces their vulnerability to human trafficking, smuggling and other forms of irregular migration,” Raviv adds.
Overview of 37 innovation principles and inspiring examples for a better world. Made by Marc Heleven from New shoes today, a ídea factory based in Belgium.
New shoes today is a growing number of soulmates in business who give support to people and organisations on their road to creation, innovation and change. Together with clients they take on 21st century challenges. Their values: open - drive - unity - fun - care - today.
The transcript of the slideshare presentation with all links can be found here.
“The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.”
The Charter of Compassion is a cooperative effort to restore not only compassionate thinking but, more importantly, compassionate action to the center of religious, moral and political life. Compassion is the principled determination to put ourselves in the shoes of the other, and lies at the heart of all religious and ethical systems. One of the most urgent tasks of our generation is to build a global community where men and women of all races, nations and ideologies can live together in peace. In our globalized world, everybody has become our neighbor, and the Golden Rule has become an urgent necessity.
The Charter for Compassion is the result of Karen Armstrong’s 2008 TED Prize wish and made possible by the support of the Fetzer Institute.
If your government told you where and how you could spend your money, wouldn’t you feel outraged?
If your government said it would only fix essential services to your property as long as you agreed to hand over control of your property for a fixed amount of time, wouldn’t that sound ridiculous?
If someone came from outside your community and imposed upon you, your family and friends a system that you could plainly see would cause more problems than it solves, wouldn’t you stand up and shout NO!
ANTaR launched a new campaign today called A Better Way. The campaign aims to increase the awareness among 16-24 year olds in Australia about the discrimination Aboriginal people face in the Northern Territory.
The discriminatory policies have been going for over two years, since June 2007. The government’s own independent review, released one year ago, suggested changes be made to eliminate the discrimination however the changes have not yet been made.
Amnesty International Chile: “By buying this lighter you contribute a 10% to Amnesty International worldwide causes. Ingnite the hope.”
Agency: Unitas/RNL, Santiago
Very important message from Hungary: “1 perspective is insufficient”.
This beautiful animation is made by Pal Varsanyi and György Ligeti. It is their battle against ethnic discrimination.
It is a local campaign made for the citizins of Békéscsaba, the capital of Békés County with a population of 66,000 situated on the Great Hungarian Plain.
The campaign contains this video, a website, stickers and posters with a Code of Ethics.
Felismerve annak szükségességét, hogy a jogegyenlőség betartása minden eljárás során rendkívüli fontosságú, mi békéscsabai polgárok ünnepélyesen megállapodtunk abban, hogy az általunk az alábbiak szerint megalkotott és elismert kódexben foglaltakat betartjuk és betartatását minden lehetséges eszközzel elősegítjük.
In recognition of the need to ensure equal rights to everyone in all procedures, we, the citizens of Békéscsaba hereby sincerely agree to comply with the Code of Ethics created and accepted by ourselves as set out below and to enforce compliance with said Code using all available means.
Last Monday graffiti artist Darrin Umboh kicked off the new Terre des Hommes campaign ‘I sign for Terre des Hommes’ by creating an artwork on platforms 4/5 of Leiden central train station (NL). Umboh is one of the founders of sneaker collective LEYP.
The Terre des Hommes campaign aims to get young adults more involved with the issue of child abuse. Umboh got his inspiration from one of the projects in Tangail, Bangladesh where the NGO supports children who otherwise would have to work in one of the many brothels.
Besides Umboh, illustrators MAKI and DEDass have also created work. By donating you not only support Terre des Hommes, but you also receive a signed piece of one of the three illustrations (42 x 59,5 cm).
Kind of déjà vu: hell stations. Remember the last days of Apartheid in South Africa. Shell was banned in Europe by a lot of people because of the wrong choices they made. Removing the “S” from their logo was done often.
Now Amnesty International is doing something similar with the use of Google maps to publicly highlight the damage Shell is doing in the Niger Delta (see Amnesty’s report for further details). You can help by taking photos that obscure the S of the Shell sign from view, and sending them to Amnesty.
To mobilise public opinion for human rights, it takes some effort to be heard. With this new film “Insomnia”, created by agency Rapp and directed by Jeremy Halkin, Amnesty International invites everyone to take part in events organized for the Amnesty nights (Les nuits d’Amnesty). The more people get involved, the more noise they’ll make… and the less leaders of certain countries will be able to sleep with a clear conscience. So turn up the volume.
Les nuits d’Amnesty campaign website Les nuits d’Amnesty at Facebook
Dutch politician Jan Pronk is the ambassador for IKV Pax Christi the biggest movement for peace in The Netherlands. In this unusual video we see another side of Pronk’s past, that of a Mexican wrestler. Pronk is looking for the next generation of freedom fighters who can succeed him in his fight for peace. This viral is a call for young people to join the IKV Pax Christi movement and attend the Night of the Peace; an event combining debates, video-art and music in Amsterdam.
IKV Pax Christi is also active on Dutch social network Hyves and Twitter to communicate with the next generation of freedom fighters.
“In an ideal world, children once forced into slavery, conflict and trafficking would be living enriching lives with the support of families and schools,” said Suzanne Dvorak, chief executive of Save the Children in Australia. “Children deprived of a playful, stimulating and happy childhood would be a thing of the past.”
Save the Children Australia is hosting a national exhibition to raise awareness of child abuse, slavery and neglect, issues that are often overlooked. The national exhibition started in July at the Southern Cross Station in Melbourne.
Next dates: 3 - 8 August: Westfield Carousel, Cannington; 21 - 30 August: Westfield Carindale, Carindale; 11 - 20 September: Westfield Bondi Junction, Bondi Junction.
Save the Children is hosting an online exhibition besides a print and outdoor advertising campaign.
Great new work from our blogfriend Firat (Elmaaltshift) as part of the team at McCann Erickson Istanbul for Engelleri Kaldır. Engelleri Kaldır is the ‘Removing barriers movement’ (RBM), a worldwide Istanbul based movement of people who campaign for human rights.
It is an outdoor campaign made for bus shelters and billboards. In September it will be published in newspapers.
Translated copy:
“Imagine your daily life as a barrier in your life.
That’s the truth for 8.5 million disabled people living in Turkey. Every day it is a struggle for them to go to work, to reach their schools, to socialize. Everyday day they are abandoned a little bit more in cities and public areas. Isn’t it time to get rid of these barriers?”
The main goal of the RBM is to end all obstacles that violate internationally recognized human rights by creating projects/strategies that bring awareness and concrete solutions. “The removing barriers movement belongs to anyone who owns it” is the belief supported with the slogan “Do not block your heart, remove the barriers!”
RBM took start in January 2009 as a dissertation project of Rodin Alper Bingöl who is the senior student of Visual Communication and Design department in Istanbul Bilgi University. Later on, the project became a societal movement with the excessive interest and support shown by the private organizations and community.
Oxfam International has been given a bold, typocentric makeover by Barcelona’s Hey Studio which is expected to resonate with a young Spanish audience. Oxfam pursues education, disaster management and health initiatives alongside advocacy and policy research to ensure sustainable development in combating poverty and injustice. The new look highlights issues through confronting icon-typographic mash-ups applied to a vividly coloured range of products from posters to pencils.
Most heard opinion why Obama won the presidential election last year is because of the effective use of social media. True. But also very important was the Hope-poster made by Shepard Fairey. How a piece of design went viral.
Now Shepard Fairey made new stunning work portraiting imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi from Burma.
“This Human Rights cause is something I believe in strongly,” said Fairey. “I created this portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi to raise awareness of her on-going house arrest and the oppressive nature of the military regime ruling Burma.”
“Aung San Suu Kyi is the Nelson Mandela of Asia,” said Jack Healey, the head of the Human Rights Action Center. “Shepard’s tribute to her will remind the world she is the rightful leader of Burma in a powerful way. I always felt it was his image that galvanized the Obama movement, God willing, it will do the same for Aung San Suu Kyi and those fighting for human rights in her name.”
”In a world in which we all too often focus on differences, Aung San Suu Kyi is a unifying figure that people of all political persuasions can work to support. Shepard’s image encapsulates that very point beautifully,” said Jeremy Woodrum, director of the U.S. Campaign for Burma. “The Burmese people have appealed for our help – let’s give it to them.”
The “Freedom To Lead” campaign has partnered with Causecast, an online global community and social action network.
More at the dedicated website from Causecast, and Twitter.
With every powerful people’s movement for change, a symbol emerges--an image that can change the world. For the Iranian democracy movement, that image is of Neda, the 26 year old Iranian young woman struck down by a bullet to the heart.
Last week, her devastated family was ordered by the Iranian regime to bury her quietly and without circumstance.
Avaaz.org wants you to send a message of commemoration and solidarity by buying a t-shirt. Proceeds will go to support projects that enable Iranians to freely access the internet.
CEDC, the Center for Educational Design and Communication, helped Avaaz with the design of a t-shirt concept.
Hi! We are Judith and Gertjan, a Dutch couple with an open heart and mind for the people of South Asia. In 2010 we will move with our two kids towards South Asia to work as volunteers. Judith is a nurse with a medical management qualification and will be involved in a medical training program. Gertjan is an entrepeneur and will start an education program and an IT business. Our Christian faith is an important motive for us in doing this kind of work.
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Osocio is dedicated to social advertising and non-profit campaigns. It’s the place where marketing and activism collide. Formerly known as the Houtlust Blog, Osocio is the central online hub for advertisers, ad agencies, grassroots, activists, social entrepreneurs, and good Samaritans from around the globe.