Home › TVB Resources › Case Studies › War Child - John St.'s Killer Vid
War Child - John St.'s Killer Vid

War Child: John St.'s Killer Vid

 
Canadians consider themselves more-active-than-thou when it comes to charity donations and volunteering, but statistics show otherwise.  In its work to aid the approximately 300,000 child soldiers fighting in 19 armed conflicts around the world, War Child Canada wanted to change that with a simple position: if you're not taking action, you're making things worse.

War Child Canada and Toronto agency John St. took a satirical approach aimed at galvanizing young Canadians into action.  A two-minute viral video depicted a soccer mom donating weapons and grannies knitting balaclavas to "help the child soldiers."  The ironic video - which was also cut into 30-second TV spots - gained over 100,000 hits within the first two weeks.  It became the top featured and top favourited on YouTube, and was the sixth most discussed non-profit video of all time in Canada.

The integrated campaign centred on a website, Helpchildsoldiers.com, which featured facts on child soldiers, a petition to increase government aid funding, as well as printable posters, badges, stencils and wallpapers that visitors could use to spread the word.  The posters, with statements like "War is for kids" and images of bullets in crayon box camouflage, were also distributed as wild postings in cities.

Social media also played a role in the campaign.  John St. sent "knife donation boxes" to activists and influencers who then blogged about it, resulting in 17,689 referrals to Helpchildsoldiers.com and 1,667 comments on YouTube.

As well as the usual goals of spreading awareness and raising funds, the non-profit's aim was to build a database of potential volunteers and activists among the 22-to-35 demo.  "If you sign up for a charity between the ages of 20 and 30, generally that is your charity or one of your charities that you'll stay with," says John St. co-CD Stephen Jurisic.

Since the launch, War Child has seen over 12,000 new memberships, an 80% increase in new volunteers and a 50% increase in donations.  The org is currently planning the 2009 campaign.
 

 

 

      
Originally Posted: 6/12/2009 10:45:40 AM
Last Updated: 6/12/2009 11:53:56 AM