American Red Cross Commercial
I've always thought that if you were in Marketing or Advertising, that every single show on network television would suddenly turn into the Super Bowl. Instead of muting the commercials or ignoring them, you'd pay attention because you'd be looking for inspiration or critique the commercials for their effectiveness. As of late, I've been studying marketing concepts, mostly because of my interest in the value of Social Marketing, so when the television is on in the background, I actually have been paying attention to the ads on TV.
I just saw one of the best commercials that I've seen in years. It was for the American Red Cross, a nonprofit organization that offers disaster relief and takes blood donations. Here's how it goes: it shows a ludicrous shot of a bunch of people dancing in a really goofy fashion to an upbeat song called "It Takes Two". Two of the people come into the foreground and the camera cuts to each of them, one at a time, up close. Text is shown for each of them next to their close-up shot on the screen.
The first: "Needed blood."
The second: "Donated blood."
Back to all of the people dancing. Two more emerge, and we see them up close with:
"Needed CPR."
"Knew CPR."
Dancing again. The whole thing has such a silly air that I'm trying not to laugh at it. I feel like I shouldn't laugh at it because there's no reason it should be funny, so I'm a little ashamed of myself. Part of it was that the pairings were illogical. One of them was a young white man and a middle-aged Indian woman. Two more people come forth, the last ones, and their stories read:
"Gave help."
"Needed help."
Then, back to everyone dancing, with one guy doing some crazy breakdancing move and the name "American Red Cross" over them, and the commercial ends.
Hmmm...
Long term, I don't know how well it will work, but the commercial is brilliant. It strips down the idea of the American Red Cross to its most basic element: people helping other people. More specifically, individuals helping other individuals. The American Red Cross is trying to dispel the notion in people's minds that their company is a large faceless organization into which people donate time and money, then a bunch of bureaucrats decide how to allocate said time and money, and somewhere after a bunch of processing, it goes to help other people.
Charity is not like a factory, and most people know that already, but the commercial is appealing to people with an emotional message, not facts or statistics. The message is simple and clear: if you choose to contribute to the Red Cross, than you can and will make a positive impact in someone else's life, even if you never witness the positive effect of your contribution directly.
It will probably only speak to those people that are predisposed to being charitable, but that's okay. It's powerful, it's memorable, and there's truth in it, so I think it will work. It seems effective because it's so positive, instead of a gloom-and-doom message about the terrible things in the world that need our attention. If they keep running the commercial, I think more people will sign up for their training, volunteer their time, and get involved in helping.
I just saw one of the best commercials that I've seen in years. It was for the American Red Cross, a nonprofit organization that offers disaster relief and takes blood donations. Here's how it goes: it shows a ludicrous shot of a bunch of people dancing in a really goofy fashion to an upbeat song called "It Takes Two". Two of the people come into the foreground and the camera cuts to each of them, one at a time, up close. Text is shown for each of them next to their close-up shot on the screen.
The first: "Needed blood."
The second: "Donated blood."
Back to all of the people dancing. Two more emerge, and we see them up close with:
"Needed CPR."
"Knew CPR."
Dancing again. The whole thing has such a silly air that I'm trying not to laugh at it. I feel like I shouldn't laugh at it because there's no reason it should be funny, so I'm a little ashamed of myself. Part of it was that the pairings were illogical. One of them was a young white man and a middle-aged Indian woman. Two more people come forth, the last ones, and their stories read:
"Gave help."
"Needed help."
Then, back to everyone dancing, with one guy doing some crazy breakdancing move and the name "American Red Cross" over them, and the commercial ends.
Hmmm...
Long term, I don't know how well it will work, but the commercial is brilliant. It strips down the idea of the American Red Cross to its most basic element: people helping other people. More specifically, individuals helping other individuals. The American Red Cross is trying to dispel the notion in people's minds that their company is a large faceless organization into which people donate time and money, then a bunch of bureaucrats decide how to allocate said time and money, and somewhere after a bunch of processing, it goes to help other people.
Charity is not like a factory, and most people know that already, but the commercial is appealing to people with an emotional message, not facts or statistics. The message is simple and clear: if you choose to contribute to the Red Cross, than you can and will make a positive impact in someone else's life, even if you never witness the positive effect of your contribution directly.
It will probably only speak to those people that are predisposed to being charitable, but that's okay. It's powerful, it's memorable, and there's truth in it, so I think it will work. It seems effective because it's so positive, instead of a gloom-and-doom message about the terrible things in the world that need our attention. If they keep running the commercial, I think more people will sign up for their training, volunteer their time, and get involved in helping.