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The Shock Effect and Public Awareness

Parody of an AIDS campaign
Parody of an AIDS campaign
Finding new ways to keep media attention on pressing yet unchanging topics is not an easy task. As more public awareness campaigns seek to be controversial, more critique is dished out. In recent news, critics have decried the tastelessness in the blackface cover of The Independent and the I am an African ads.
The controversy used to elbow for the public’s attention can obscure the original intent. One LA Times journalist confused a Doctors Without Borders campaign in Paris, which distributed tents to homeless people, with tourists camping out.
Another Doctors Without Borders project, Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City, just ended a US tour which visited New York City, Atlanta and Nashville. Setting up shop in a public space, the exhibit presents a tangible glimpse into the issues refugees are facing and what sort of work is being done by the organization’s volunteers. School tours and other related lectures and exhibits were scheduled during each city’s Refugee Camp.
While shocking campaigns garner needed publicity, the context and educational content is often missing. Refugee Camp is a reminder of the innovative ways to interact with the public on a large scale, without the shock effect.
To see what the project looked like on-site, there’s a gallery of photos from the Central Park exhibit at the Village Voice site.

12 October 2006 | 11.46am (CEST) | posted by Marie | |
TAGS Human Rights | Ethical Values & Responsibility | Education | Demography & Migration | Ethnicity & Culture | Media & Information

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