STARTING A REVOLUTION

Now more than ever, we need advertising to do good

As I write this, the world is in turmoil. A rash of senseless acts have been taking place in the Middle East, Europe and America. Rhyming off the litany of issues we face as a society doesn’t have a place in this magazine, but there is something we can discuss. Where is advertising’s place in all of it—and lest anyone think how I could ask such a question, it does have one. What can we do to help? And how can we be better, more respectful marketers?

The thing about advertising is it really works. So much so that throughout history, the medium has been used for ill will—although in those cases we call it by a different name. While propaganda is usually specific to politics, I can’t help but think its very existence is one of the many reasons why people outside this industry seem to have such distaste for advertising in general. That, and the moment in the seminal novel/film Fight Club when the main character says, “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need.”

It’s a clever line, but what a narrow view. The belief that advertising is only about selling stuff is elementary at best. Mia Thomsett and Addie Gillespie, co-creative directors at Vancouver creative outpost Camp Pacific, address this in their column on p. 12, in a rallying cry for do-good advertising.

Many of the winners in this year’s Advertising & Interactive Awards, which start on p. 67, have also shown that advertising is more than product promotion. In a time when the world could use a lot less misinformation and a lot more hope, they’re doing what they can to assist.

Take KBS Toronto’s The Watercolour Project for humanitarian aid organization World Vision, for example (p. 71). After facilitating the opening of a new well in a Rwandan town, they worked with kids to produce watercolour paintings of what their new lives looked like with safe drinking water. In pay-it-forward fashion, the artwork was then auctioned to raise money for another well in a neighbouring town, and so on.

Our winners are also raising awareness about hot-button topics, using social media to start conversations that we’ve never had collectively before. Earlier this year, WAX brought attention to a little-known food security issue plaguing Northern Canada with the “#EndthePriceHike” spot (p. 73), and, with “Project Consent,” Juniper Park\TBWA took a serious issue from an overarching rape culture discussion and explained it in a memorable way (p. 81). And the National Film Board of Canada’s interactive experience “Kabul Portraits” (p. 161) highlights Afghan culture while simultaneously destigmatizing it.

On a smaller scale, marketing can be means to a great escape, or a way to make ordinary days a little more special. In a strange yang to the yin of this column’s introductory sentence, there’s currently a global converging over a game featuring a certain gang of anime characters. It’s somewhat silly, yes, but Pokémon GO has brought people together in unimaginable ways. Similarly, Camp Jefferson’s “Choose Happy” campaign (p. 77, and the star of this issue’s cover) is more than a simple ploy to get you to sign up with a mobile phone company. The countless, cheerful interactive executions are designed to spark a smile and provide a joyful distraction.

As marketers, you are so powerful. Advertising is your conduit to speak to the public en masse, and it doesn’t matter if the platform is large or small—you can use your voice for good. It might be as simple as solving a business problem for a client and making their world a little easier to live in, or as complex as coming up with an uncharted way to engage people (for more on that, see p. 28). You can highlight an important social issue, create a public call to action and create more demographically diverse work. It’s not solely on your shoulders to change the world, but there are things you can do to change the conversation. It just requires a little out-of-the-box thinking. Good thing that’s what you do best.

By Kristina Urquhart, Applied Arts Vol. 31, No. 4, Issue 161, 2016