I was going to write on the pettiness of the Beyonce performance protests, but then I saw this ad campaign in a class and decided it was more worthy of my time and yours.
Warning: Graphic images follow.
"Liking isn't Helping" is a series of ads created by Publicis Singapore for a volunteer program called Crisis Relief Singapore. Their message is simple—liking posts on Facebook doesn't actually help people.
You know the posts I'm referring to. I call them "guilt trip posts." For instance, a photo of a starving child or an endangered elephant appears on your news feed with the message, "Like to help (insert human/animal rights issue here)."
You now have two choices: like/share the post or keep scrolling and forever solidify yourself as a heartless scrooge. You might also see similar posts with a religious message.
The good people at Crisis Relief Singapore are saying this arbitrary activity doesn't actually help. That seems pretty obvious on paper, but the phenomenon of the Facebook social activist continues.
The "Liking Isn't Helping" campaign uses real, shocking press images of children in distress, then surrounds them with hands giving thumbs up. It really puts our "activism" in perspective.
Publicis Singapore used heartbreaking images like this one as a wake up call for Facebook philanthropists. At the same time, they promote actual, physical volunteer work, especially with Singapore's crisis relief group. It's almost impossible to read here, but the caption says, "Be a volunteer. Change a life."
Now, I'm not saying drop all your worldly possessions and join the Peace Corps. Rather, I'm alerting certain individuals that their likes aren't buying hungry kids food or saving the dolphins or funding disaster relief.
I will give a little credit to sharing a post. Raising awareness of an issue is the first step to solving it. But what's the point of sharing if it only earns likes?
That's why I'm sharing this ad campaign. I feel it's powerful enough to inspire more than a like.
If those images hit home with you, visit the CRS website.
