11 February 2011
Stop the Pity: Now We are Getting Somewhere
Mamma Hope has done something revolutionary! They have made a campaign that does not try to elicit pity. 'Stop the Pity. Unlock the Potential.' has kicked off with the above video of Alex re-telling the story of Commando, the 1980's action movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
This is what better advocacy looks like. The end of the video plays on all the talents of Alex and invites the viewer to 'unlock' his potential by supporting the organization. If we can start seeing those in poverty as having potential it will create a shift in the way in which donors view the recipients of aid.
As a side note, the kids who hung around my house in Kenya were wild for Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Kung-Fu movies were a constant reference and request. The same kids who appear as the ones with tattered clothes and crying eyes, were very much full of energy as joy as they ran around re-enacting the movies they saw.
Also, if you are flying Virgin America Airlines, you will get to see this video in-flight.
So, maybe a larger faith-based organization everyone has been talking about can follow the lead of Mama Hope to become the leader in a new way of telling stories...
HT Penelope
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15 comments:
So, so good! I´m sharing it with my Facebook contacts, trying to change for a while the tone of the conversation
I love this!
Not sure if having the potential to retell a violent moving is the best thing to be proud of, particularly in Africa. Shame it wasn't the Wizard of Oz... but that would not have worked, would it, since that's not what the West export most...
Aww a cute African kid! I've never seen a charity ad use a cute African kid before!
Eh...
Is it really groundbreaking advocacy if it says nothing about their work?
Is a orphanage building startup non-profit the sort of org you *really* want to get behind?
Is my donation helping send Arnold DVDs?
I like the marketing. I think it's cute. It doesn't do many of the bad things other orgs do. But I don't think this is the end all of NGO marketing.
@perpheries - I too wish it was not a violent film.
@aidhack - Good points. A note, I am not throwing support to the organization, I do not know anything about them. My praise is on the video alone.
Yes, you are right 'groundbreaking' is definitely hyperbole. However, I think it is a good step forward.
Thanks for the comments.
About being a non-violent film... It wouldn´t have been so credible. Little boys love this kind of films! When I was around 10 my favorite film was ROCKY II !
I am a Kenyan, living in the US for the last two years. This video needs to be shown in all those development classes taught at Grad school. Very refreshing.
Hey, fair enough and good on them to try something new.
The challenge for larger NGO's is that they do work with people with HIV/AIDS, child soldiers, orphans, and trafficked children. Whereas this is a nice, lighthearted message for Mama Hope's donors, it's not surprising that it hasn't been copied by an org that has lobbied, fundraised for and worked on these issues for years. Large orgs are risk averse, and I expect we might not see this sort of "the African kids are alright" messaging in the main stream for a while especially for orgs with older donor bases.
In the meantime, invisible children and charity water will continue making kick ass videos for the college kids who want to feel happy about Africa and the kids.
@aidhack - Agreed. I could not have said it better myself. Thanks again.
I share the concerns of aidhack, but you are balanced, thoughtful and open to other's opinions as always Tom. Refreshing.
Overall, I think it is a great example of effective non-profit marketing and advocacy. I think concerns of the violence portrayed in Commando are overplayed, but are valid concerns. Like Pablo & Alex, I grew up watching Arnold and probably still quote him too often. The violence is quite tame compared to the modern action genre. It is soft, but still violent. Alternative Arne movies: Twins, Kindergarten Cop, Junior?
It does skew many of the realities as aidhack points out, but offers a counterweight to the messaging and images that we often rail against. There are positive things to take away from this campaign, but always room for improvement.
I'd like to see the one with his sister where she describes a movie she has seen. Good overall point, not the film I'd celebrate (he kills them all! Cool!)
The film shows the kind of real, everyday interaction that a foreigner might have with a kid they meet while traveling in Tanzania or another a country in Africa, when that kid hasn't been taught yet that he's supposed to ask them for money and play the victim.
The main movies that kids have access to in movie houses and local cinemas or local VHS or DVD shops in the African countries where I've visited are Rambo and Terminator and similar. So it's depressing but not surprising that this is the film the kid can recount. Not to mention that most little boys who grew up elsewhere might love these films too.
Having said that, the film did NOT prompt me to go and see what mamawhatever does as an organization. I don't even remember the organization's name, and I don't know what they do or what they stand for. So if the film wants me to donate or learn about their work, it failed. But if the film is about getting me to see a truer vision of what a lot of kids are like, it succeeded. And succeeded well. I think this type of messaging needs to get out more.
Good points from AidHack and Brendan, but I have to say I'd rather see this kind of film than the typical sob story stereotype. And AidHack - not all kids who are in 'special circumstances' are all sad all the time. And children in special circumstances are not a large majority of children in all African countries. I do think that there is a big challenge in how to raise money in ethical and respectful ways for programs to support children who are in need and in very difficult circumstances. I'm glad some orgs are trying things though, and hopefully at some point there will be a new standard....
It's the same for Argentina, by example Chaco, the image of it is very partial. By medias it seems that here there are only indians poverty and that is not true at all
Did you watch the latest Save the Children video by comparison?
http://bit.ly/gSvmNa
Did you watch the latest Save the Children video by comparison?
http://bit.ly/gSvmNa
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