“Osocio has successfully created a platform free of a hidden agenda, which encourage exploring the successes and failures of social advertising and non-profit campaigns.”

What can I say more? I just discovered this great six page article, which makes me blush, in the digital DESIGN> magazine (edition 15, 2009). It is not only about ourself, mainly the article analyse the world we blog about.

Click on the digital magazine for full screen mode and flip the pages. And there are more great articles like ‘Design Professionals and Social Activism’ on page 16.

This is the launch video for ACT Alliance. ACT is an alliance of 100 churches and church-related organisations that work together in humanitarian assistance and development. The alliance works in 125 countries and mobilises US$1.5 billion annually in its work for a just world. The alliance has over 30,000 people working for it globally.

The objective of the video is to introduce the ACT Alliance, to make people aware that it exists. It doesn’t by any means begin to cover everything that ACT does, but it gives the right flavour. And the feel of it is up beat.
Soon more about the ACT Alliance here on Osocio.

Curious who is in the video above? See the video after the break.

I critized the Pepsi Refresh campaign last month but today I’m thrilled to hear that Mark Horvath won the contest. Mark known as HardlyNormal on Twitter is a tireless advocate for the cause of homelessness. In a way he is my hero in the social change landscape. He is doing an amazing job with Invisible People TV where he portraits homeless people. Gary Vaynerchuk, a social media celebrity champion, helped this cause win the contest and receive a grant of $50,000 for Invisible People TV.

Congrats Mark!

KitKats, gotta love em. Each bar consists of fingers composed of three layers of crème-filled wafer, covered in an outer layer of chocolate. Each finger can be snapped from the bar one at a time. It is not just a chocolate bar; it is a way of living. Who did not ‘have a break’ eating a KitKat?

Apparently the orangutans in the rainforests of Indonesia are not that fond of the chocolate treats. Greenpeace holds Nestlé – the producer of KitKat - responsible for destroying rainforests to get cheap palm oil, a key ingredient of the chocolate bar. The rainforests are also the natural habitat of the orangutan and having a break while your own home is destructed is pretty difficult.

Today Greenpeace released a commercial in the typical KitKat style in order to raise awareness among the consumers of KitKat and to ask them to give the orangutan his well deserved break. It is a pretty in-your-face video in which the chocolate fingers of the KitKat turn out to be the fingers of the orangutan and the crème-filling is its blood. Bon appétit!

In general I am not a fan of the use of shock advertising in the social sector, because it seems to have lost its effect a long time ago. In this case I do like the video, because the message is not only direct, but it also takes away your appetite. The association of the orangutan’s hairy and bloody finger with this chocolate bar will make me think twice when I need a break.
Besides that the video’s direct style fits an organization like Greenpeace and the fact that it is a spoof on a KitKat commercial gives it an interesting mix of humor and seriousness.

Don’t just give the orangutan a break, but stop Nestlé from destroying rainforests for palm oil. You can read more and take action by clicking here.

Update 19.30u: It seems the campaign has certain effect and the PR machine of Nestlé started to work as well. This afternoon they released a press message stating:

“Nestlé has replaced the Indonesian company Sinar Mas as a supplier of palm oil with another supplier for further shipments. We confirm that Nestlé has only bought from Sinar Mas for manufacturing in Indonesia, and no palm oil bought from Sinar Mas has been used by Nestlé for manufacturing in any other country. We have also joined other major purchasers of palm oil in making sure that companies, such as Cargill, understand our demands for palm oil which is not sourced from suppliers which destroy rainforests.”

YouTube deleted the video after complaints of Nestlé and has now been uploaded to Vimeo. Greenpeace continues its actions, because according to them Nestlé only stopped working with small suppliers of palm oil. To be continued.

This ad, published in September 2009, is from ENPA (Ente Nazionale Protezione Animali), the Italian national board for the protection of animals. It is about animal testing for cosmetic products.
The aim of the campaign is raising funds to build a rehab center for the animals that survived the tests.

“Help us to cure the victims of cosmetic tests. Send a sms to 48585 to give 1 euro and to contribute creating a rehab center.”

This Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima rip-off from Joe Rosenthal is so annoying. The original is the most significant and recognizable images of war. And it is copied many times.
Making ads with this over and over again is lazyness. Ridiculous to compare a flag with underwear. Not the best metaphor to use.

“The great fashion sale. The fight goes on against Aids. AIDES”

A great but also very sad photo project from Bogdan Meseşan: “I made a proposal about how should look the photos on new Id’s for Romanians, since the majority of the western Europeans believe that Romanians=Thieves.”
Bogdan is right. I’m from The Netherlands and many people in my country think about Romanians this way. I feel ashamed.

Constantin Nimigean is promoting the serie on his great blog Oitzarisme. The photo’s are also on Flickr.

Meet Google. The noun that became a verb. The world’s favourite search engine, and the company whose motto is “Don’t be evil...”
Google CEO Eric Schmidt: “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.”

Graphics by Patrick Clair, written by Elmo Keep and Jon Casimir.

Meet these very special Promotion Girls Maria (82), Charlotte (86) and Klara (89). They did promo work for the Diakonie Frankfurt (Ger), the help organization from the Protestant Church.
The Diakonie-grannies walked through the centre of Frankfurt, just as in their everyday lives, and got into situations in which they needed help because of their age: crossing a street, carrying a shopping bag or using a ticket machine. If people helped the grannies, they were thanked with a flyer that said “We are looking for people just like you!” and which referred them to the website www.help-the-oma.de.

“We are recruiting in places where older people often need help: in everyday life. People who offer a hand here are perfectly suitable for voluntary work at the Diakonie,” Burkhart von Scheven, Chief Creative Officer Saatchi & Saatchi Germany, explains the idea behind the campaign. “The ‘help for the Oma’ depicts only a small part of the Diakonie’s work, but it illustrates what all volunteers have in common: the love for people and their desire to help others.”

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Four gorgeous ads from The Surfrider Foundation.
Above the original French poster.

“Il n’y a pas de petite pollution.
Aidez-nous à garder la mer propre.”

“In the sea, there’s no such thing as a little bit of rubbish.
Help us keep the oceans clean.”

You can help the Foundation by organizing cleanups at the cleanup days at 18, 19, 20 and 21 March. See the campaign website initiativesoceanes.org.

Yesterday in Canada it was Bottled Water Free Day. It is a project of the Canadian Federation of Students, the Sierra Youth Coalition and the Polaris Institute.
Only ten years ago the concept of bottled water was a novelty. Now, bottled water is seen as a necessity—water fountains have disappeared and bottled water has infiltrated our schools, workplaces and communities.
The bottled water industry is less regulated than municipal water systems, consumes more energy and releases more harmful toxins into the environment than tap water.

“Across the country students are standing up against the wasteful bottled water industry,” said Noah Stewart, National Deputy Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students. “Tired of having to pay Coca Cola, Pepsi or Nestle for a drink of water we’re calling on schools to ban the sale of bottled water and re-invest in water fountains.”

Two birds, one stone
Initiator Gerjanne Tiemens explains: ‘We kills two birds with one stone. Charities get beautiful designs and wonderful ideas; young creative minds get the opportunity to add products to their portfolio and make an important contribution to society. Besides that, everyone connects with interesting people and finds inspiration!’ 
 


This virtual reality campaign is made for Pathways to Housing (USA). The organisation was founded by Dr. Sam Tsemberis in 1992, and is widely credited as being the originator of the Housing First model of addressing homelessness among people with psychiatric disabilities.

The video was shot in New York City. Pedestrians encounter a life-size digital projection of a homeless man, shivering as he sleeps on the street. When passing by a message pops up, asking people to move the virtual person via text message. When they do, another video activate projecting a door on the wall as it is a new home for the man. The person who sent the text message receives a message back asking if they would like to make a $5 donation that would be added to their cellphone bill.

More about the shooting at the Pathways to Housing Facebook Fan Page.

• It’s not just for smokers: Challenge yourself to quit, or challenge a friend
• Bet your mates: Create custom rewards for success and forfeits for failure
• Head to head: It’s easier when you’re not alone, so challenge your friends to see who can give up longest
• Quit for good: Sponsor a quit to help raise money for charity, and save a friend money at the same time
• Track your progress: Earn medals for progress, get your mates involved, and see how long you can manage

Check out the application at www.quitclub.co.uk/facebook

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What the impossible hamster has to teach us about economic growth. A animation from the Impossible Hamster Club about crazy consumption and really gross domestic product

“We wanted to confront people with the meaning and logical conclusion of the promise of endless economic growth. We used a hamster to illustrate what would happen if there were no limits to growth because they double in size each week before reaching maturity at around 6 weeks. But if a hamster grew at the same rate until its first birthday, wed be looking at a nine billion tonne hamster, which ate more than a years worth of world maize production every day. There are reasons in nature, why things dont grow indefinitely. As things are in nature, sooner or later, so they must be in the economy. As economic growth rises, we are pushing the planet ever closer to, and beyond some very real environmental limits. With every doubling in the global economy we use the equivalent in resources of all of the previous doublings combined.”

Agency Quê Comunicacão created a series of posters to promote the NGO, with a take on a common saying about icebergs.

In this six-week intensive workshop students will learn about:

• Ideation and design strategy for social issues
• Understanding the audience
• Concept development
• Design and strategy for corporate social responsibility
• Design and strategy for non-profit and civic institutions
• Working with and navigating NGOs and non-profits

During the course of the six week program a series of lectures featuring leaders in the areas of design and social change will be presented exclusively for students of the program.

A great UK based project called Coalition of the Willing. It is an animated film about an online war against global warming in a post-Copenhagen world. Through analyses of swarm activity and social revolution, ‘Coalition of the Willing’ makes a compelling case for the new online activism and explains how to bring the fight against global warming to the people.

The man behind the film is philosopher/activist Tim Rayner. The film is made by a network of 20 collaborating artists and film-makers from around the world.
It started at the beginning of February. The film will be released in 6 staggered ‘waves’ approximately 2 weeks apart, with 4-5 film sections uploaded in each wave.