Make Poverty History Campaign
Award: Wood Pencil
Wood Pencil / Integrated / Integrated Advertising / 2006
In 2004 a group of charities wanted to bring the nation together to fight the abject poverty still rife in Africa. They had to be persuaded to unite and apply pressure to the eight most powerful leaders in the world. The 'Make Poverty History' campaign was aimed at the average person in the street who needed to feel that their voice could make a positive difference. The white MPH bracelet was created for people to show their support. Every single person wearing a band became walking, talking media, and vans were driven around the House of Parliament protesting poverty. A press campaign ran imploring people to visit the website and sign an online petition and to rally the supporters into an email army which made the campaign hard to ignore. With donated media space the campaign was on every single commercial channel at 8.58 on May 31 with 'Click'. The campaign appeared everywhere, and so many people made so much noise that a man put on a concert. The success meant that a handful of charities became the biggest ever collation of charities. Normal people became campaigners, 20 million of them in the UK alone supported Make Poverty History and most importantly, the G8 politicians heard the call. “Make Poverty History has been the most successful public pressure movement ever”. Tony Blair 2005
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