Archive for Cause Advertising
A Collection of Responsible Advertising
Posted by: | CommentsWhile browsing the web today, I came across an amazing site that archieves hundreds of socially responsible ads. Some of them are shocking, some sad, some funny, but most get the point across in my opinion.
http://www.act-responsible.org/public/
I would have posted some of my favorites here, however the website does not allow you to copy and paste the photos elsewhere.
In particular my favorite is on the home page; it is an ad for the International Foundation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Socities. It depends a white and a black hand interwoven with “discrimination the end is in your hands” written across the fingers. I personally think this is an incredibally powerful message. The black skin against white skin is striking in itself. And furthermore, the messaeg is powerful as well since discrimination is still a problem plauging our nation.
Check out their creative gallery, it has tons of great ads!
The Foundation for a Better Life
Posted by: | Comments
The Foundation for a Better Life has tons of billboards and print ads like this and I think its very cool. As someone who drives a lot, I always find myself staring at these billboards longer than I should whilst driving. I think that when it comes to virtuous advertising, the FFBL has a great mission in inspiring people to be proactive in their own lives. There are many other examples of this stuff on their website values.com. There is a link to connect with them on facebook and on twitter and they have a lot of cool information and examples of their ads.
Excretion Vision
Posted by: | Comments
After seeing the photos Elizabeth posted creating awareness about environmental destruction, I thought I would try and find some good ones too.
However, when I came across this ad, I almost threw up. However it does get its point across. It may be over the top but sometimes that’s what you need to grab peoples attention.
This ad was done by the Greenfamily Youth Association of Environment Protection, who wants to bring attention to the fact that some places are still being polluted. They hope to “make people aware of the environmental protection issue.” And I think they will do very good job of that if enough people are exposed.
Hulu Conducts Virtuous Advertising (Research)
Posted by: | Comments
I was just at Hulu looking for something to watch and up pops an offer.
Can you help make Hulu’s advertising service better? In return you’ll be able to introduce 250 Hulu users to one of seven charities. Sounded interesting so I clicked through.
For answering “no more than 24 questions” about the advertising, Hulu let me choose to promote either UNCF, Big Brothers Big Sisters, EarthShare, The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research, Americans for the Arts, DonorsChoose, or Kiva.
I have not seen the specific ads Hulu is showing, so I did a little research. I searched Hulu and the Hulu community for more information, but found nothing. The only info I could find was a July 2009 post on ecorazzi, a blog on green gossip.
I wonder why Hulu is not promotiing their effort to support and promote charities. They are benefiting from the research participation, but it almost seems as if they are demonstrating altruism. If you see the ads, let me know and I will post them.
SMU’s Heart Beats for Haiti Initiative takes flight through social media
Posted by: | Comments
After the destructive earthquakes in Haiti in January, SMU’s Student Senate began a program called SMU’s Heart Beats for Haiti. The idea is that donors pay money and get their name put on a heart, which is posted in Hughes Trigg. Your name is also posted on the SMU Website. For organizations the price is $1,000 for a heart. The money all goes to the Clinton-Bush Relief Fund. As far as advertising goes, I think that SMU students have really come together and put in a lot of time and effort to see this succeed. SMU’s Heart Beats for Haiti can be found on Facebook and many people have made comments about it on their twitter pages. Students volunteer to sell hearts everyday outside of Hughes Trigg. The campaign is unique, involved, and persuasive. It is a fine example of some local advertising here on campus.
Recipe for Joy
Posted by: | Commentshttp://www.americangreetings.com/channel/kraft/
Kraft Foods and American Greetings have teamed up to help provide meals for the hungry by donating 10 meals for every free e-card that is sent by users. Donations benefit Feeding America, the largest hunger relief charity in the US.The company had originally committed to donating at least one million meals, but the program has been so successful they are increasing their commitment by offering 3 million meals.
The e-cards include recipes, and entertaining tips for the holiday season. Users can create online recipe boxes, and share their favorites with other users or friends. Users who had shown interest in giving back to their communities inspired the program.Kraft has been a longtime supporter of Feeding America, donating $770 million over the past 25 years.Promotion for this program has been on online social networking sites twitter and facebook, as well as the kraftfoods.com site. The company has also sponsored a holiday movie on the hallmark channel.
I think the fact that Kraft and American Greetings have kept a relatively low profile on this promotion is great. Kraft is trying the help their site users feel like they are making an impact and giving food to the hungry this holiday season!
Do Advertisers Have The Flu Bug?
Posted by: | CommentsThis year, the world witnessed a major pandemic of a type of swine influenza called H1N1. This outbreak of the swine flu has caused consumers to be more concerned about getting a flu vaccine and taking preventative steps to counteract the spread of the virus.
Yet as fears of the swine flu increase, so do the number of flu prevention advertisements, especially within household cleaning product categories like soap and antibacterial cleaners. Brands like Dial, Purell, and Lysol have all released marketing efforts aimed at educating consumers on flu prevention (see the Wall Street Journal article).
Other campaigns have focused on vaccine preventions. Take this Walgreens TV spot centered on the importance of receiving the flu vaccine:
This ad features Walgreens CEO advocating early flu vaccination to protect your loved ones. This ad would appeal to those consumers who value their health during the cold and flu season. Walgreens positions their brand as a helping partner to help consumers fight the flu. The spot uses appeals like ease of effort with convenient hours and days of business. Using Walgreens’s CEO, a pharmacist himself, increases the credibility of the advertisement.
Some bloggers and consumers, however, feel that the exploitation of consumer fear of getting sick is “quite a sleazy course of conduct” ( see the Wall Street Journal article). Dean Crutchfield, an independent branding consultant, believes marketers should donate resources to school and hospitals instead of increasing their marketing budgets. These actions create a sense of benevolence and charity around their brand.
This sense of goodwill is exactly what brands like Walgreens are doing. Walgreens partnered with Dr. Oz from the Oprah show to educate about preventing the flu and committed to distributing 1 million dollars worth of flu shots to those in need. Take a look at their feature on Dr. Oz’s show:
Other brands are taking similar steps to provide sanitizers and cleaning products to schools and hospitals in need.
There will always be those critics who say the flu vaccine is unnecessary or even harmful. But with 14 to 34 million cases of H1N1 and 2,500 to 6,000 H1N1-related deaths in just seven months of 2009 ( see more statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) any preventative step could be seen as necessary. Advertisers can help keep the flu at bay by playing a role in the education and prevention of the swine flu for consumers. Now that’s what I call a clean bill of health.
What do you think: is it ethical for advertisers to market swine flu prevention-related products and services?
Obama, NFL players encourage kids to exercise for 60 min every day
Posted by: | Commentshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXsoDx9s0j0&feature=player_embedded
There is a series of great NFL commercials running on TV advocating for more active children. I think that this is a great initiative given the rising problem of obesity among young children and the common concern that children spend too much time at home infront of the TV and the computer. This is a great example of how advertising is good for society. I especially like President Obama’s involvement in the campaign as a role model to many Americans.
The campaign advocates not only active and exercising children, but it also encourages personal relationships among children. If kids spend too much time online while their parents are at work, their only friends will be the virtual ones and the ones on the online games. However, such kids are missing the personal touch and emotions they can have if they are playing outside with other kids.
This is a great example of a cause marketing campaign which proves one more time that advertising, if used right, is good for society. By recognizing the current problem in society of children obesity and addressing it in the campaign through providing a solution to it - exercising at least 60 min a day in a fun way (by playing with peers), advertisers can change behavior in a way beneficial to society. Here is when the persuasive character of advertising comes into play. Furthermore, by using of influential figures such as Obama and NFL players, the advertisers not only facilitate higher attention among consumers, but I also believe that consumers will elaborate on the message in the ad and hopefully change their behavior in the long run.
Secondhand Smoke PSA
Posted by: | CommentsCreated by Denver, Colorado-based agency Cactus, this anti secondhand smoke campaign was created for the State Tobacco Education & Prevention Partnership (STEPP). The aim of this spot was to send a clear message to parents about the potentially dangerous affects that secondhand smoke can have on children.
This spot beautifully illustrates how poisonous secondhand smoke penetrates all those that get in its path. Using a novel concept of ravens to portray the pathogens released into the air is sure to grab the attention of many. The spot also uses a fear appeal to make sure the message hits home with parents.
Check it out:
I’d like to hear what y’all have to say about this spot. Typically, I don’t think fear appeals work, but in this case I think the use is very effective.
City Harvest: Bushels Beat Hunger in the Big Apple
Posted by: | Comments
City Harvest, whose mission is to fight hunger in New York City, NY, is the only food rescue organization in the world. It links agencies, individuals, corporations, and foundations to unite in fighting NYC’s hunger. City Harvest provides free deliveries of food to nearly 600 emergency food agencies, and feeds 260,000 people suffering from hunger on a weekly basis. Its “Food Council,” made up of top chefs, restaurateurs, and food industry professionals, donate some of the city’s best food and raise funds for the organization.
The PSA City Harvest released raises awareness and interest in helping feed New York City’s hungry. The advertisement is well done in that it attracts the viewer’s attention (which is limited, selective, and divided), by making the issue personally relevant, surprising, concrete, and easy to process. The ad is framed by a realistic interaction by what seems to be a couple, with the man filming the woman with his iPhone (the PSA was actually filmed on the iPhone). They start to board the subway train, but as the doors open, thousands of green apples burst out. A voice informs us that “every day, 470,000 pounds of food is wasted in this city…Help City Harvest rescue food for New York’s hungry.” City Harvest used 500,000 CGI apples in the PSA to illustrate New York City’s daily food waste. By using the framework of a realistic couple in the NYC subway, the PSA is made personally relevant; moreover, it is surprising and unexpected, as the viewer does not expect hundreds of thousands of apples to come pouring out of the train. The green apples are a contrasting stimuli against the gray subway station. The abstract notion of the hunger and of food waste is made concrete with the sheer number of apples and the booming voice, making the message easy to process as well. Finally, the use of apples is fitting due to the association of apples with “The Big Apple,” i.e. New York. This could perhaps prevent the sleeper effect, as well as support the match-up hypothesis, as viewers will readily remember City Harvest, whose symbol is also the apple, and that its mission is to feed the hungry in The Big Apple.
