In the wake of the devastating cyclone that hit Burma on 2 May, the Burma Campaign UK launched a new video and poster campaign to highlight the ongoing disaster in Burma – the military dictatorship.
The new animated film ‘The Real Disaster’ was created by Ogilvy Advertising and is narrated by famous comedian Ricky Gervais. It tells the story of a little girl called Khin Mar, who survived Cyclone Nargis but whose village is later destroyed by the military dictatorship. The message is ‘The real disaster in Burma is the government’.
The video was beamed onto Waterloo station in London on June 25. The first part of the video above shows the projection, the second part shows the ad made by Ogilvy.
This video from Defne (Turk & Greek Friendship Association) won the Kristal Elma Social Award in the category film.
The video shows a little boat and a radio changing music on every wave.
In case you don’t know, Turkey and Greece aren’t the biggest friends on earth.
Voice-over: “We eat the same, we drink the same. The songs that we laugh/cry, are the same. Is it friendship or what?”
Amnesty International is bringing a life-size model of a maximum security cell at Guantánamo to cities across the USA.
The tour is a way to enable people in the United States to get a glimpse of the harsh realities of illegal detention and prolonged isolation.
Visitors to the cell are encouraged to enter and to go through the conditions of isolation and then share their experience in a video message (see below).
“In Africa, not everyone dies from hunger.”
Ad from the France department of SOS Sahel. Good copy, strange design. Person looks like a pregnant skeleton.
Brilliant design, shocking message from Amnesty International Hungary.
“My camp is my home, and the men here are part of my family. I don’t want to let them die by the hands of the melitiamen. So I made a decision in order to keep the men out of danger, I get the firewood myself. That is my gift for them; to face rape every day.”
Stop the daily rapes in Darfur.
This ad appeared in today’s New York Times and International Herald Tribune Editorial pages, and will also show up in the next issue of Foreign Affairs. The ad was made to showcase and explain the name change of the International Peace Institute.
For nearly four decades, the International Peace Academy trained peacekeepers and promoted conflict resolution. But as their agenda evolved to address changing threats, so did their name. The new name: International Peace Institute.
This visual is submitted by Bashar Alaeddin, a freelancer photographer and visual-fx artist from Jordan. Bashar got the idea after reading an article about how people are fighting in the name of Lebanon.
Copy: “Stop. Enough shooting fire in the name of Lebanon” (’Lebanon’ is the one that has the splatter on it).
More work from Bashar Alaeddin at his website and on his blog.
Although this isn’t about a visual campaign it is worth to mention. The American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is doing a email campaign This series of five emails will span April and June, asking people to take action on various petitions and letters during this period leading up to the Olympics.
The logo at the right is part of this campaign.
In the first email which was sent at the beginning of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, AJWS ask the readers to sign an open letter that calls on President Bush not to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing. AJWS will deliver signatures to the White House on Monday, May 12.
As AJWS says, Jews have a deep understanding of the danger of inaction in the face of genocide. And so Yom HaShoah is also a reminder that there is much more that can be done - especially for the people of Darfur.
China has acted as both an enabler and protector of the government of Sudan. Since 2004, China has supplied 90 percent of all small arms purchased by Sudan - weapons used in the murder and forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Darfuri people. And as Sudan’s largest trading partner, China continually thwarts international action to end the violence in Darfur.
AJWS: “The attendance of President Bush at the opening ceremony would implicitly endorse the actions of the government of China.”
In October last year designer Nadia Plesner started a campaign called Simple Living to raise awareness of the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to raise money for the helping organization Divest for Darfur. The thought was: Since doing nothing but wearing designerbags and small ugly dogs appearantly is enough to get you on a magazine cover, maybe it is worth a try for people who actually deserves and needs attention.
That is why Nadia choose to mix the cruel reality with showbiz elements. The result was the poster above, also available on a t-shirt.
In February this year, Nadia received a letter from Louis Vuitton’s (French fashion designer) main office in Paris, asking firmly to end the campaign immediately, as they believe one of their products is being portrayed in the art piece:
“Although we applaud your efforts to raise awareness and funds to help Darfur, a most worthy cause, we cannot help noticing that the design of the Simple Living Products includes the reproduction of a bag infringing on Louis Vuitton’s Intellectual Property Rights, in particular the Louis Vuitton Monogram Multicolore Trademark to which it is confusingly similar. We are surprised of such a promotion of a counterfeit bag.”
“As an artist yourself, we hope that you regognize the need to respect other artists’ rights and Louis Vuitton’s Intellectual Property Rights which include the Louis Vuitton Monogram Multicolore trademark.”
This is part of the answer from Nadia Plesner:
“However, I must inform You, that the bag in my drawing is inspired by - and refers to - designers bags in general – not a Louis Vuitton bag.
If you take a closer look, you will also notice, that the pattern in my drawing is not the pattern which is used in the design of a Loius Vuitton bag.
The name Louis Vuitton is in no way mentioned or referred to, neither in my drawing, nor in the campaign as such.”
Talks between the laywers of Louis Vuitton and Nadia Plesner will take place at the end of May.
Update: Although I think Nadia is sincere, the design of the handbag looks very similar to a Louis Vuitton design. See this image.
I think the design of the poster is great. It shows the ridiculous gap between rich and poor, first world and third world. Is it smart from from Louis Vuitton to make such a hassle? Is there intellectual property harmed by this campaign? I don’t think so.
Or what one of the commenters asked at Nadia’s website forum: was Andy Warhol sued for his portrayal of the Campbell’s soup cans?
What is your opinion? Please let us know in the comments.
Alfonso Cuaron din this short film based on Naomi Klein’s book—The Shock Doctrine. This is a reall powerful work, the message is strong and the execution is superb.
UNICEF reports that there are well over 250 000 children in armed forces around the world. About 2 million have been killed in the past decade alone.
”Children only have to be this tall to fight
Stop the use of child soldiers. Visit unicef.org”
These Life-size “standees” in the typical style of amusement park height restrictions were placed at the entrances to fun rides in theme parks across South Afrika. Painstakingly pointing the parents to the issue at hand.
I wish it wasn’t but this will be a award winner: Amnesty International’s new anti-waterboarding advert found on unsubscribe-me.org, the fight against human rights abuse in the ‘war on terror’.
Waterboarding is a form of torture that consists of immobilizing a person on their back with the head tilted downward (the Trendelenburg position), and pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. Through forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences the process of drowning and is made to believe that death is imminent. (Wikipedia)
A videogame about the genocide in Rwanda, ”Hush," uses an initially very understated approach to sensitize players to the consequences of ethnic violence. As Ian Bogost points out in Gamasutra, its creators chose “to focus on a singular, personal experience as a solitary approach to the topic of genocide.” The game is a typing game that involves concentrating on letters that appear on the screen with innocuous words like “child,” “hush,” or “young.” Typing these letters correctly is supposed to represent singing a lullabye to calm a young Tutsi child who has been hidden from marauding armed Hutus. As soldiers go by the house and are visible through a window on the play screen, it can be difficult to concentrate on your typing task. Failure causes the screen to go red to symbolize the killing of mother and child.
Nicely made video and print ad of Greenpeace showing a plastic bag morphing into a nuclear mushroom.
Is it a warning about nuclear warfare or energy? Ar we using too much plastic bags? What’s the message, I don’t get it.
(via theblong, Sensibilid(ad) and I Believe in Advertising)
“By putting pen to paper, you can help end armed conflict in Darfur and Eastern Chad. Join thousands of others around the world in writing to Sudanese MPS and asking them (pleading with them if we must) to put an end to the atrocities being committed in these countries. To find out how you can make a difference, visit http://www.amnesty.org/en/armed-conflict."
Dispite the used stereotypes I like the use of humour in this video. This video came from Holyvirals.com, ‘a different perspective on Israel’. They believe that an open mind and a sense of humor are the essential building blocks for Peace and mutual understanding in the Middle East.’
The video is signed by Israeli-Palestinian Civil Initiative Mifkad which is no longer online anymore (only a Google cache version). Can anyone tell what is going on with Mifkad?
(via theblong, Sendtofriend and Tendances.com)
Thousands of people in more than 160 cities around the world marched yesterday in protest of the actions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The protests were convoked via Facebook under the name ”One million voices against the FARC” (Spanish: Un millón de voces contra las FARC).
Agency Sancho BBDO Colombia took the bus stop posters and chained three iconic characters of the Colombian conflict posing as hostages. A woman who reminisced Ingrid Betancourt (hostage for nine years now), a policeman and a farmer, all tied to the posters that held a message as follows: “Since you can do it, go out and march against FARC.” (Tú que puedes sal a caminar en contra de las FARC)
Last week, on februari 4th, people rallied together to protest against the FARC and in favor of the liberation of the approximately 700 people they’ve kidnapped. The idea for the protest was born less than a month before on the social networking site Facebook. Through this website more than 100,000 people from 165 cities around the world confirmed their participation.
On the day of the march “El Tiempo”, the main Colombian newspaper published a call for action by filling its first page with articles all about the FARC, the terrorism and the kidnapping ‘industry’.
All articles were printed backward. Over them, the only text printed right-side up read “Turning your back on the problem won´t make it go away. Join the march today”.
The three different items from this remarkable campaign, made for Avocats sans frontières Québec (Canada, ASFQ/Lawyers without Borders), are being sent to lawyers, law students, representatives in the legal community, political and social agents as well as the main Québec media outlets. This campaign will spearhead the organisation efforts to raise awareness of its cause.
Canadian Ad Agency Cossette Communication-Marketing, who worked pro bono for this campaign, designed 1.000 bags, each containing a rock, rice or a rope and a message describing how the work being done by ASFQ makes a difference.
Tired of putting your name on web forms? Don’t give up yet as you can do something different for a change and unsubscribe.
Amnesty International UK is inviting people to do just that, on a message to governments that citizens are no longer quiet while human rights are attacked under the false pretext of ‘the war on terror’. And while most petitions ask you to sign up, the British AI is asking citizens to take your name off.
Above the outdoor ad from the Dutch Artsen Zonder Grenzen (Medecins Sans Frontieres/Docters without Borders). This ad is part of a awareness campaign about there work in Darfur. The copy says it all: “Wij blijven vechten in Darfur”, “We still remain fighting in Darfur”.
“The 90 nuclear bombs at the Incirlik Base are a great risk even for a risk-loving nation. Did you know that there are 90 nuclear bombs in Incirlik? Or did you know that these bombs can destroy quite a big part of our country? Now, you now it. Come, let’s send all of these bombs back to America.”
These ads are from Greenpeace Turkey.
Three ads from IANSA, the International Action Network on Small Arms. IANSA is the global movement against gun violence - a network of 700 civil society organisations working in 100 countries to stop the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons.
After the wake up call to G8 leaders on the need for immediate leadership on climate change, Avaaz started another worldwide action. This time it’s about the clash of civilizations. The Stop the Clash campaign challenges the growing belief that fundamental divides between the “West” and “Islam” make conflict inevitable.
The Canadian Comité de Solidarité/Trois-Rivières asks for the immediate withdrawal of the Canadian troops committed in operations of combat in Afghanistan with this video. When you agree with it Comité de Solidarité/Trois-Rivières wants you to sign this letter and sent it to Prime minister of Canada Stephen Harper.
Great magazine ad from the International Labour Organization (ILO). After breaking the chain of the handcuffs this is readable: “Ending slave labor is not this easy”.
After my previous post about landmines, ”Landmines in Dublin”, Ricardo contacted me with a similar kind of project called Emina. He placed mine warning signs in Lisbon, New York, London and Southampton.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has joined with Google in an unprecedented online mapping initiative. Crisis in Darfur enables more than 200 million Google Earth users worldwide to visualize and better understand the genocide currently unfolding in Darfur, Sudan.
Next year we want a Humanitarian lion in Cannes.
Join and sign at humanitarianlion.com
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Although this isn’t about a visual campaign it is worth to mention. The 
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