Rusty Radiator Awards
Advertising aid – the good, the bad and the ugly
I had intended to post about this a long time ago, but hey, it's better late than never eh? You might remember back in November last year, I posted a parody video Who Wants to be a volunteer? by The Norwegian Students' and Academics' International Assistance Fund.
Back in December, they held their annual Rusty Radiator Award in Oslo for charities using damaging development stereotypes in their advertising campaign. You'll know from reading my previous posts that I believe that these stereotypes are not only unfair on those people portrayed in the adverts, but also perpetuates disempowering misconceptions and hinders long-term, effective development.
The winner of the award, as decided by social media voters, was South African aid organisations Feed A Child advert, the MOST ridiculous and offensive portrayal of a white women feeding a black child like a dog.
Jury's comments: Completely 'White Saviour'. David had to turn it off after 10 seconds. Racism isn't something of 200 years back, it's something very present in South Africa today. It's interesting how this was produced by one of the biggest advertising companies in the world, and how they got it so very wrong. The message doesn't justify using the same stereotypes to both raise awareness and steal agency. The poor are already depicted as incapable of their own rescue, now they are being compared to dogs. What next? Is there a score worse than 0?
Others shortlisted, include:
Hunger Stops Here – Concern Worldwide
Jury's comments: "What mother would put their suffering kid in the middle of the sun and just sit there? This is straight up staged, with shocking images of children in HD. You would never put an American kid in an ad like this, because there's too much dignity given to the privacy of the children. It promotes every stereotype about malnutrition, and tries to encourage giving and donation out of guilt. It's like they found them by the roadside just waiting to die."
The Most Important "Sexy" Model Video Ever – Save The Children USA
Jury's comments: Uhm, wow. We're speechless. They just got it wrong. This is an attempt to get Facebook likes and clicks by putting sex and poverty together. By using celebrities in this fashion, the message becomes hollow and meaningless. The models are made to look stupid. "I detest this kind of bullying. This video made me cringe", says David
What Does Poverty Look Like? – CCF Canada
Jury's comments: The winner of the Rusty Radiator 2013 is back! We thought we were watching a parody of it. They are basically using the same scenes they always use, we'd like to know how old these shots are. "Do you know what poverty looks like" – does it look like a person? Who talks about a human being like that? Teddy describes it as "poverty porn, white saviour complex, over-simplification to the causes of poverty to the missing $1 silver bullet solution to poverty", and Boima as "everything that's wrong with fundraising". "I am amazed that this would run at any TV-station in the world", says Rosebell.
The winner of the Golden Radiator Award, goes to the fundraising videos using creativity and creating engagement. In 2014, it was Save The Children UK's Most Shocking Second a Day video
Jury's comments: Any advocacy ad that can put you in the middle of the situation instead of casting people and situations you'd never imagine is a good one. This video presents conflict porn without overwhelming you with it, because you are so invested in this girl's tragic day. You feel for the little girl as if she was someone you knew next door or your children went to school with. It emphasises the universality of suffering and empathy, and breaks racial stereotypes about who suffers.
– Video produced by Don't Panic London
Also in December, The Guardian published a list of what it deemed '11 of the best aid parodies', turning the tables on the newly released Band Aid single. Including videos from Saturday Night Live and Africa for Norway/Radi-Aid, you can find the full list here.
One of my favourites is this Radi-Aid classic; Let's Save Africa:
What do you think about these adverts? How do they make you feel? Are they totally inappropriate and offensive, or realistic representations of those living in extreme poverty? Do you know of any others worthy of this award?
March 24, 2015 developmenttruths	Advertising, Africa, Campaigns, Charities, fundraising, Radi-Aid, Rusty Radiator Awards, Save the Children, stereotypes	Leave a comment