First Thoughts and Campaign Overview

When I first found out that we were going to be working on campaigns I was quite excited as I thought we would be getting involved in a massive fundraiser (similar to the Children in Need or Comic Relief telethon). However it soon became clear that we were doing something on a smaller scale; raising money for more local charity shops. I was still keen to help as after watching 'Mary Queen of Shops' I was really surprised how disrespectful people were in treating the charity shops like rubbish dumps-after all, they are doing a good thing and donating their profits to good causes, as well as making sure people don't throw away their old toys or clothes and reuse them. Charity shops have a reputation for being rubbish and uncool just because they sell second-hand products and I felt that we needed to change this and provide better quality donations for these deserving shops. 

These are the campaigns we looked at and a few more extra:

1. Dove Real Beauty;

About a week after we first started the Autumn Term we got into groups and focused on one particular campaign that someone had researched for homework. In our case it was Dove Real Beauty, a campaign led by the Dove beauty brand with the aim of using real, non-Photoshopped women in beauty campaigns to increase the self-esteem of the population and show them that true beauty is not physical (fake) perfection. The Dove Self-Esteem Fund is an 'agent of change to inspire and educate girls and young women about a wider definition of beauty'. Working closely with B-eat (an eating disorder charity) they aim to raise awareness about how young girls and women are influenced by the media and are going to extreme measures to be thinner and 'beautiful' and to target eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia; it is estimated that at least 1 million people across the UK are affected by these issues. 

 

2. Children in Need;

For our Campaign Learning Objective 1 we were asked to research a well known charity campaign and a popular choice was Children in Need. This is now a well-established BBC charity, with celebrity benefactors such as Terry Wogan and a nationwide telethon held every November with celebrity hosts, performers, TV show contributions and true stories from across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They aim to give vulnerable, seriously ill or disabled children and young carers a chance at a proper childhood and do what they can to make life more positive and happy for children under 18, who have already been through so much at such a young age. 

3. Barnardo's;

This is a campaign we were asked to research due to their controversial campaigns and advertising. They use effective yet disturbing images to raise awareness of children living in extreme poverty and suffering horrific abuse. These include images of young children with aged faces with the caption 'Abuse Through Prostitution Steals Children's Lives'; another campaign shows pictures of newborn babies with cockroaches, needles and bottles of spirit in their mouthes aiming to show the shocking truth of how young children and babies even in this well-developed country are living in horrific conditions and extreme poverty. Despite the controversy surrounding these images Barnardo's have won an award for such imaginative and thought-provoking pictures attempting to expose the truth, even if it's unpleasant and disturbing.

4. Children's Society;

This was perhaps the charity my group focused on the most as it was the charity shop we were hoping to increase donations for. I would say they have similar aims to Children in Need but maybe on a slightly smaller scale; they aim to offer support to vulnerable children, children suffering from the effects of drug or alcohol abuse, runaways, young carers and any children that need their help to lead a normal, happy childhood. They work with children's centres and mentoring schemes they provide a better life and better chances for the children who need it most, and who wouldn't necessarily have a voice at all.
 


5. Comic Relief

This is another charity whose main work is with children, but they take it internationally to help children in Africa whose lives have been ruined or tragically cut short due to HIV/AIDS, malaria or malnourishment in countries which simply don't have the food to provide adequate care and medical treatment for the population. Their money can do simple yet effective things like buy cheap mosquito nets to prevent the spread of malaria, offer support to children who have lost parents and other family members to AIDS and give them water taps, food and medical drugs to give them a better chance at life.




These campaigns because they choose to highlight big issues that make people care (Dove knows that all women need to feel comfortable in their own skin, and no-one likes to see children suffering) and while campaigns like Comic Relief and Children in Need organise big events all around the country and host big  TV extravaganzas, Barnardo's and Dove use effective advertising and images to make people think and reveal the truth.