Make the world a better place with Flash (and win a prestigous award along the way)

Did you know that on your birthday 24.000 people will die of hunger and hunger-related causes? Last year i was involved with a special project that was part of the worldwide awareness-raising campaign First8. The heart of the campaign was a pocket-sized photography book with powerful portraits of people living and surviving in difficult and unacceptable circumstances throughout the world.

In September 2004 this book was delivered by mail to 25,000 people in positions of power and influence, addressed to each individual personally, by name. As the campaign was anonymous, there was no return address, only the address of this website. In the Netherlands, 1.6 million copies of this book, in mini-magazine format, were distributed along with various magazines. The book carries only this text:

Today you are one of more than 25,000 heads of state, ministers, members of parliament, monarchs, religious leaders, captains of industry, journalists and other influential people of 191 countries who hold this printed glimpse of our world.

For the first time in history we have the means to end poverty.

Today it’s in your hands.

www.first8.org

There was no return address: the sender of the book was anonymous. The recipient was being asked to think about his or her own responsibility in the world: What can you do, using your position or status?

It also was a confrontational address to the members of the United Nations on the eve of the UN General Assembly in New York on 21 September 2004; a call to make an extra effort in the battle against poverty and to stick to agreements made in 2000, the Millennium Development Goals:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

I’m proud to be part of this project, and the whole team worked hard to translate the message from the book to an online experience. At  the end of last year, this project won a prestigious advertising award; a golden Epica. The Epica awards are european price for advertising and marketing-communication in film, print and on the web. Entries are judged on two critera: originality of the creative concept and the quality of the output.

Although it’s always nice to win such a prestigious award, the real reward is the attention that comes with it for the actual website. I’d like you to take 5 minutes and have a look on the website and think about your responsibility to make this world a better place.