Unicef Targets Slacktivism in “Likes Don’t Save Lives” Campaign

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Unicef - Likes Don’t Save Lives

When keeping it real goes right…

As great as social media is, it’s created a world where brands and organizations base their success on “Likes” and “Follows.”

While I’m sure Unicef genuinely appreciates its over 2 million Facebook fans, not including the hundreds of thousands of fans on affiliate pages, their new “ Likes Don’t Save Lives ” print/video campaign makes a hard-hitting point.

Like us on Facebook, and we will vaccinate zero children against polio.

We have nothing against likes, but vaccine costs money. Please buy polio vaccine at unicef.se . It will only cost you 4 €, but will save the lives of 12 children.

Developed by Forsman & Bodenfors , this particular attention grabbing campaign will be distributed in Sweden, though it could and should roll out globally.

The message is clear. The ad is brilliant. A “Like,” which is an easy tool for “ slacktivists ,” is useless if that’s the only action people take.

It’s easier than ever to support a good cause — all you have to do is hit the like button. The organization gets one more supporter and you get positive publicity among your friends.

But even though it’s important to be liked, likes can’t fund medicine, water or food. In this campaign for Unicef Sweden, we highlight the absurdness of our blind faith in likes, to raise money for vaccine.

This is especially true considering most brands have seen steep engagement drops after Facebook’s algorithm changes last fall, which deliberately shows posts to fewer people in an effort to gouge brands for advertising dollars.

Unicef, which may only reach 10,000 of its subscribers, has recognized that if all those subscribers do is hit “Like,” a more important task is being ignored.

(Note: “When keeping it real goes right…” is a corny reference to Dave Chappelle ‘s “ When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong ” skits.)

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