Skin charity wants you to Peel Here

Is it me or is it true that there are fewer Facebook Apps used for campaigns? Is it because the Apps are less effective than expected? Because viewing an App is a conscious choice? Who has the answer?

Despite these doubts, I found this App from the British skin charity Debra very nice. 

The App features a moving image of a young boy with a plaster over his torso and the invite “Want to know what it’s like to be the parent of a child with EB?”. (EB stands for Epidermolysis Bullosa, a painful genetic condition which causes the skin to blister and shear at the slightest friction, or even spontaneously). When the user clicks their mouse over the dressing, which is marked ‘Peel’, and pulls to drag it reveals the blistered skin beneath and the reality of living with the condition every day. The child informs that “EB is a blistering skin condition. When my dressings are changed it can peel away the skin too”. The user is then invited to donate directly; to share the App; and to find out more about the charity, how it supports families and individuals living with EB, and its pioneering research.

Will Arnold-Baker, Managing Director at Publicis London, the agency behind the campaign: “It’s impossible to fully appreciate how severe EB can be without first-hand experience, but we believe that by allowing people to interact with the campaign, they will appreciate the condition a little better.

The campaign was created to mark the beginning of EB Awareness Week, which was in the last week of October. The App is still online.