War Child Campaign
The campaign involved the posters seen above as well as a viral youtube video about people who were supporting war children but not in the conventional way, by sending guns and knitting ski masks for the children. This was to send the message that if you are not part of the solution, you are a part of the problem. This got a huge response through social media as well as helping to drive viewers to the war child site. As part of the campaign they also had a launch event at a gallery to gain attention.
Target market
The primary target for these ads is a Canadian adult age 35-50. Middle to upper class, as a great deal of the campaign was online, which suggests that the audience must have a disposable income to afford this technology. This makes sense for their company because obviously if you don’t have the money to support yourself you would not be able to help others.
Cultural Themes
John st., the advertising agency that created the campaign noticed that Canadians are not donating money or volunteering their time to war children. They decided to show an apathetic audience that if you’re not helping the problem you are contributing to it.
What you learned
I like how the posters aren’t your typical charity advertisement with sad pictures of children that while emotional don’t work because nobody wants to look at them so it’s that much harder to get someone to read the information. This gets your attention by being out of the norm (The bright red background doesn’t hurt either). Then when you read the ad, it forces you to think about the sad truth about war children. This ad increased war childrens’ volunteer base by an amazing 80%, and in a time of recession when most charities are seeing a decrease in donations war child received an increase of 50%. This shows that using a smart creative approach you can completely change how an audience sees an issue.
Target market
The primary target for these ads is a Canadian adult age 35-50. Middle to upper class, as a great deal of the campaign was online, which suggests that the audience must have a disposable income to afford this technology. This makes sense for their company because obviously if you don’t have the money to support yourself you would not be able to help others.
Cultural Themes
John st., the advertising agency that created the campaign noticed that Canadians are not donating money or volunteering their time to war children. They decided to show an apathetic audience that if you’re not helping the problem you are contributing to it.
What you learned
I like how the posters aren’t your typical charity advertisement with sad pictures of children that while emotional don’t work because nobody wants to look at them so it’s that much harder to get someone to read the information. This gets your attention by being out of the norm (The bright red background doesn’t hurt either). Then when you read the ad, it forces you to think about the sad truth about war children. This ad increased war childrens’ volunteer base by an amazing 80%, and in a time of recession when most charities are seeing a decrease in donations war child received an increase of 50%. This shows that using a smart creative approach you can completely change how an audience sees an issue.
