You have probably been touched by the recent and amazing movie of James Cameron: Avatar. This cinema masterpiece, showing an idealistic planet where creatures live in peace and harmony, can also be regarded as a metaphore of what happens here below.

It seems that, anywhere in the world, some people prefer to work for the evil, harming the rest of the humanity in the egotistic search of their own enrichment. The 10-minute-documentary "Mine: Story of a sacred mountain" aims to increase public awareness about a real Avatar issue in our planet earth.The Dongria Kondh, one of India’s most remote tribes, live in Orissa state’s Niyamgiri hills and worship a mountain as a God. The documentary shows their ancestral tradition to call up against a mining company that prepares to destroy this sacred land in order to build a vast open-cast mine. This documentary is an initiative of Survival International, an organization working for tribal peoples' rights worldwide. Their main actions consists in communication campaigns to call up public opinion all over the world. Check their website for more information.

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Your first concern is always your inhabitants’ welfare.

Actually, this has been a great source of inspiration for Amnesty International…

For they made a pixel-art out of it :

Association : Amnesty International Belgium. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

The caption says : ” Destitution is a modern scourge. Destitution violates human rights. We demand dignity”.

By clicking on some parts of this picture, you will be given information about particular topics : refugees, discrimination, forced deportation, death penalty… (sorry it’s in French !)

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An ethnological reflection on the disempowering effect of globalization, “Free Tibet” can reversely be interpreted as the disenchantment of any individual who stops believing in the emancipation of minorities the first time he sees an Eskimo drinking Coke. There is, of course, a large debate on the independence of Tibet, but it’s largely carried out by academics who, like Buddhist monks, remain detached from all material objects.

On a political level, this translates into inaction. Inaction means not even purchasing an item that would result in a free Tibet! Ultimately, since the Dalai Lama has become a trademark, the best target for this product remains Angelina Jolie’s children and other 5-year old precocious intellectuals who will develop manic depression by the age of 7 (after realizing they can’t change the world like Michael Jackson did).

As Edmund Burke said, “All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing”. So do wear the T-Shirt.

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1. From German AIDS :

Don’t lose your head when making love, use a condom !

2. From French AIDS :

“Without condom, it’s the virus you’re directly making love to”. A very stiring campaign. Ouch !

Two versions exist, for men and women.

3. From Guillermo Vega for TULIPÁN ads (condom brand) :

These ads show Skeletons actually “boning”. You don’t use a condom ? It is as if you were already dead !

4. MTV campaign against AIDS :

Having sex without protection… You’d rather get shot…

The legend says : “Heterosexual women under 30 are the most hit by the HIV virus. Women, be careful, always ask your partner to put a condom”.

5. From French AIDS :

“We are all concerned by HIV”. Everyone is liable to be HIV-stricken… Even super heros, in this case Superman and Wonder Woman.

6. From Act Against AIDS :

Making love without a condom is like being already in a drawer at the mortuary.

7. From Youth Aids :

In a Kamasutra fashion, this campaign depicts the different steps you might go through if you do not protect yourself.

8. From German AIDS :

The caption says : “AIDS is a mass murderer”… Showing women making love with dictators, such as Staline, Milosevic and Hitler. That one is the most shocking of all, from my viewpoint.

So, do these campaigns stir feelings in you ? Which one do you think is more effective ?

As for me, I think that many of these are very shocking (especially number 2 and 8, yeuk)

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A red cross entirely integrated into the text of the article can be seen. What’s the goal of it? It is to show people that the Red Cross is still present and still active in our society, as well as it is still engaged in the fight against suffering, even though we tend to forget about its existence.

This skilfully displaced logo thus aims at reminding us of the omnipresence of the Red Cross alongside the wounded, and of its permanent fight to cure the ill…

The very clicking on the cross opens a page which invites us to become voluntary workers. This campaign has been rewarded with a silver Cyber Lion in Cannes, in 2009. For those who would not know what the Cannes Lions are, what you should only remember is that the latter are a prestigious reward which every creative mind dreams of receiving one day. Of course, the Publicis Modem communication agency is not a fledgling and the Cannes Lions must be squeezing onto its shelves… Still, it is an important gratification.

• Project manager: Kuki Bastos
• Creation director: Chema Cuesta
• Creation director: José Marin
• Copywriter: Julian Tobias
• Art Director: Olga Lopez
• Planner: Luis Miguel Munoz
• Creative programmer: Francisco Hinojosa
• Creative programmer: Miguel Lopez

This article is a translation of Yoann’s French article Jouer la discrétion pour… se faire remarquer.

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Judge by yourselves:

Besides, it would be interesting to see whether by-products could be created: when will see sunglasses bearing the effigy of Doubt on the market?! Or else, the Doubt cap, the Doubt Barbie doll to sow suspicion between Ken and Barbie (“Ken, you wouldn’t happen to have had unprotected sexual relations, would you? My mother was right about you, you’re nothing else but a bastard…”), teddy bears and dolls for children, dummies for babies?

Be careful Chtulhu, you now have a true rival!

This article is a translation of Yoann’s French article Je ne savais pas que le Doute était aussi moche.

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In 1999, Union Carbide became a subsidiary company of Dow. But nothing changed for the victims. The toxic products have remained in the air or in the ground, and keep killing dozens of people every month. Out of India, that painful event is deep-buried in the memories, under the ashes of time. And under Dow’s glowing communication campaigns :

Really, when I watch this, that nauseates me. How dare them ?! They must pay. They must not get off lightly. No way ! Fortunately, some brilliant people have found a way to buzz it around. The « Yes Men » set up an awesome prank : they pretended they were Dow’s spokesmen… And said Dow apologized for its past errors, accepted full responsibility for the Bhopal catastrophe and would indemnify the victims back. And the BBC relayed these fake news !

Dow’s shares plunged down and lost 3%. A smart way to remind them of their ethical duties.

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For a few years, charity organizations have been using funny videos for their viral properties.

This scathing spot could have been one of them… but actually it is not. Taken from the Comedy Lab Ain’t It Funny Being Coloured (2007), it is openly jeering at white people’s complaining about their way of life. And the result is awesome.

The pitch ? Taking things the other way round : what if white people needed help ? What if they were in a plight, in despair, living from hand to mouth, struggling to survive ? Black people from Africa would surely help them out.

A website called www.saveMrWithey.org would be dedicated to those poor white people… Witty !

The astonishing part is that some guy really set up a website on www.saveMrWhitey.org, and he shamelessly claims he only did so to make some extra cash out of it.

I didn’t try to dial 09098700, though. Has the same guy bought the line too ?

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“No one will keep us from seeing” is the theme song of this Amnesty International campaign, which appeals to our perception in very graphical posters.

A smart mix of beauty and horror. Very moving, don’t you think ?

Agency : Air Brussels-Paris, Belgium
Creative Director / Copywriter : Véronique Sels
Art Director : Marine Vincent
Photographer : Chris Van Beek
Graphic Designer : Oliier Gillard
Published in : April 2008

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