CCT_356_Online_Ad_Critique

1. Online Advertising Critique (due Feb 8, 15%) The first online advertising campaign chosen for this critique is the “It Gets Better” Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Gender (LGBT) suicide awareness campaign. This online-based marketing campaign started in September of 2010 by Dan Savage uses YouTube videos submitted by celebrities and members of the LGBT community to exhibit to bullied teens that their current situation will eventually get better (It Gets Better Project). The origin of this campaign came from several deaths of teens who took their lives due to ruthless bullying and lack of safe outlets in conjunction with the introduction of Proposition 8; California legislation banning gay marriage statewide (It Gets Better Project). The ultimate goal of the “It Gets Better” campaign is to eliminate the bullying and the suicide rate amongst LGBT teens. The audience this campaign intends to speak to is primarily LGBT teens who are being bullied and harassed about their sexuality. The campaign markets itself as an interactive place where teens can watch, submit motivational videos and find help in coping with their situations. Included in the roster of celebrity videos are: “ President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Adam Lambert, Anne Hathaway, Colin Farrell, Matthew Morrison of "Glee", Joe Jonas, Joel Madden, Ke$ha, Sarah Silverman, Ellen DeGeneres, the staffs of The Gap, Google, Facebook, Pixar and many more” (It Gets Better Project). The celebrity endorsements within the realm of this particular social awareness campaign enhance the message being sent out to the target audience especially since this campaign is not selling a tangible product. The message of tolerance is the product being marketed which makes for an effective and heartfelt campaign that is passionately absorbed by the audience. “It Gets Better” has effectively went viral accumulating a staggering 2 247 837 hits received by its YouTube channel, the 5 473 followers on Twitter and the 123 260 Facebook ‘likes’ (It Gets Better Project; YouTube, Twitter, Facebook). The second marketing campaign chosen for this critique is “Fck H8” which similarly promotes suicide awareness amongst LGBT teens. This anti-hate campaign, unlike the first one, promotes the sale of t-shirts, buttons, calendars and other various merchandise to help fund queer youth counseling and suicide prevention. Luke Montgomery, the creator of this campaign and other various non-profit media campaigns, took a more “playful” and “cheery” approach in marketing the awareness to such a serious issue ( Montgomery, Luke). Similarly, the “Fck H8” campaign was created in direct response to various teen suicides and Proposition 8 (fckh8.com). The campaign is based on an abrupt, informative, in-your-face, expletive-filled viral video that captures the viewers attention and thoroughly explains the issue of LGBT suicide, its causes and how people can help prevent hatred and spread views of equality pertaining to gay marriage. The “Fck H8” campaign was first introduced to me while I was on my Tumblr account. One of the blogs I am following posted the video that immediately grasped my interest with its bright colors and unusual catch phrase. Bright colors and use of profanities provide to be a useful tactic in capturing the attention of the audience especially using them to market such a serious issue as teen suicide. The 107 491 Facebook likes, 22 220 Twitter followers and 110 331 YouTube channel views are clear evidence that this marketing campaign is effective in spreading awareness about the issue (facebook.com, twitter.com, youtube.com). Fck H8 finds success in marketing to a target audience that is not only LGBT youth but all members of society that want to take part in advocating equal rights for the LGBT community. Various ethnic, cultural and age groups are represented in the video. The use of the wide variety of spokespeople widens their market segment. By doing so the “Fck H8” campaign is able to adhere to a larger demographic than the “It Gets Better” campaign who has niche-marketed their services and messages to primarily bullied and suicidal LGBT youth. Both campaigns were effective in presenting their message in a clear and concise way. The use of celebrity endorsements for the “It Gets Better” campaign enhanced the message being presented and drew much needed attention to the issue from media and members of various social networks. But its lack of creative design (website, mismatched videos, placing of videos) and boring aesthetics made it blend in with the rest of the resulting in lower Twitter followers etc. “Fck H8” did an incredible job of capturing the audiences attention with bright colors, profanities and an array of spokespeople that resembled all members of society. The content of the “Fck H8” video is also quite innovative in attempting to manipulate the negatively connotative words attributed to LGBT culture and attribute new meaning to tem by using them out of context. For example 1 minute and 49 seconds into the commercial purchasing the shirt being sold is referred to as “That’s so f*ucking Gay!” (Fck H8; YouTube Video) The video is able to take a phrase that is used to denigrate and ridicule member of the LGBT community, or to describe a socially unacceptable event or thing and make it mean something positive. Although the impeccable design, creative catch phrases and innovative linguistics made the campaign interesting to watch, the allocation of the monies from the sales of the merchandise is unclear to the public in the video. Only 5$ from each shirt is being donated to various organizations, which presents the question: Where are the rest of the monies going? (fckh8.com) Surely the creation and maintenance of the site are not incredibly expensive. And if it is for a charitable cause shouldn’t manufactures be making the merchandise at a discounted cost? Or for free? These are some questions that arise when fully analyzing this campaign. Overall both ad campaigns utilized online social media tools and effectively produced two well-executed marketing campaigns for a good cause. Works Cited "FCKH8.com (FCKH8) on Twitter." // Twitter //. Web. 06 Feb. 2011. . "FCKH8.com | Facebook." // Welcome to Facebook - Log In, Sign Up or Learn More //. Web. 06 Feb. 2011. . "FCKH8.com." // Fck H8 //. Web. 06 Feb. 2011. . "It Gets Better (ItGetsBetter) on Twitter." // Twitter //. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. . // It Gets Better Project  //. The Trevor Project, GLSEN. Web. 05 Feb. 2011. . Montgomery, Luke. // Good Ideas for Good Causes //. Web. 06 Feb. 2011. . "YouTube - Itgetsbetterproject's Channel." // YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. // Web. 05 Feb. 2011. .