Up A Down B Left C Right A Start

I have spent the day beautifying the office in preparation for next week's big brainstorm on gaming:


Lots of people...

don't know...

what the hell...

is going on (spot the reference)

But it will all become clear on Tuesday:


Play again? (y/n)

I care?

There's a rather heartwarming story over at Breitenbach Und Brown about a German single mother suffering from cancer. She doesn't believe anyone cares. Truly tragic. She has slipped through the cracks of society.

Marcus' response was to ask the community to say that Yes, We Do Care Actually. The responses were diverse, but overwhelmingly positive in nature... and yet, how many of the respondents walked past a homeless person that week? Most of them, I'd wager. Her conceptual problem was actually worth more than the 'real' (physical) problems around us.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not here to spoil everyone's fun. A community bonding around the concept of care can only be a good thing, and might in time lead to better places. What I'd like to investigate is the mechanics behind this ordering of priorities. Just what is going on here?

Engagement at its best - the 'activation' of a community, you might say. The spuriously attributed "One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic" has been put to work. This woman's plight got the same narrative treatment that the 11/9 families got, that the tsunami victims got. That thousands of homeless people, wage-slaves (proper wage slaves, not you lot), and trafficked sex workers have been denied. Caring about them does not allow you to take part in writing the plot twist of someone's life. It's more like throwing a handful of detergent in a swamp and watching for some result.

Not only watching, but watching alone. Or at least anonymously. Giving to most charity goes unheeded by one's community - the charity will thank you, but your peers will not know. And it's just not polite to bring it up in society, since bizarrely it's given the same conspicuous consumption status as a big TV. 'I care' made the responses public, and consequently people wanted in.

But the offering is not just to be in on a community. It's a chance to stand out from it too, as witnessed by the wonderful creativity of the 'entries', which read like a charitable postsecret. People have unconsciously sensed the chance to make an impact, no matter how small, and at the same time to stand out. Many people have hosted their gestures of caring on their own blogs, to maintain an 'ownership'.

It's an advertising tour de force. Low involvement cost, community payback, individual fame, an emotional narrative to feed into... it's everything people are looking for, and the fact that it captured the attention of some very busy people is testament to the power of the movement. Let us hope that movement can be harnessed. Wonderful things may happen.

It's handraising at its best.

(Thanks Angus)

Is dissecting an honest movement with noble intentions shameful? It might be. But if it makes charities and social marketing ideas take flight... who cares?

Nike Be Transformed

How great are these? I wish I was a girl. And lived in the asia-pacific economic region.



Statement from Nike:
For women wanting to experience their own transformation Nikewomen.com also offers a unique training program- the Nike Training Club. With Nike Training Club, customizable training programs can be created to target key areas and maximize dynamic training such as core, strength and cardio. The customizable program can be shared and downloaded to an iPhone/iPod touch®.
That'll be Nike+, then.



An enabling message combined with arresting, imaginative visuals is alright by me, thanks. And it beats the UK comms' obsession with football...

(thanks AKQA)

This is how you generate buzz, mate

Take a bow, Tourism Queensland. Fuck. You know the idea's special when you don't realise the damn thing's been sold to you until after you've bought it.

They're advertising for someone to take on 'the best job in the world'. They contend that this would consist of dicking about with the fishies and coral and generally having a good time around the Great Barrier Reef. Oh, but you do have to document it. A bit. Benefits include a million-quid beach house and respectable wage, to say the least.

"Hold on!" you cry, "this sounds like a prize, not a job!". Well, yeah, now that I read it back. But I didn't when I first saw it. I took it at face value (to my shame), because it was pitched so earnestly and well-toned. In the Vacancies section of the Metro. It's only when it reappeared as articles that I reconsidered.

Most people will have had more brains and spotted it for what it was, but there's still plenty going for this campaign:

-Its job angle seems strangely resonant considering the current employment situation.

-The idea that you actually do give something back to them adds a weight and sincerity to the proposition. It recognises the reality of the exchange - it is them who are looking for something from you.

-The uniqueness has allowed all the major press sites to pick up on it without feeling like they're prociding free publicity. Except that they are.

-It's a prize that pretty much anyone would want - and The Best Job In The World is pretty memorable. Punchy and confident.

I think this $1.7m campaign has the potential to work. It's based on a few sound insights and some cunning twists in the prize formula.

Apply at the sexual-practice-like http://www.islandreefjob.com/, and this could be your office.

Mate.