I've been thinking about this for a few days now. It's been popping up everywhere and for good reason. It's cute, funny and original. On the way to work this morning I finally realised what I like so much about it.
It addresses the extremely delicate matter of really stupid ways to die. You know, the ones where, while acknowledging that it is of course a shame, you think that maybe they were asking for it? I've seen, unfortunately (at a YouTube Battle of all places) a few videos of people meeting their untimely demise, and sorry to say there was more than one where I thought that if you're daft enough to do that, you've can't really be surprised if you bite the big one (not that you know, mind you).
Anyway, I dare to say that if this had been made differently (i.e. pointed out that if you do die/get hurt by running on train tracks etc, then you're really fucking stupid. End of story) then it would have probably got in a lot of hot water about it. No one likes being called stupid.
Especially dead people...you know what I mean. It's just refreshing to see something that instead of dancing around the point saying that it's dangerous, or that you might get hurt, it just tells it like it is. Kudos to Melbourne Metro and John Mescall.
Brilliant campaign from The Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund, demonstrating how images in the media can make you blind to the rest of the situaiton or country.
"Imagine if every person in Africa saw the Africa for Norway video and this was the only information they ever got about Norway. What would they think about Norway? If we say Africa, what do you think about? Hunger, poverty, crime or AIDS? No wonder, because in fundraising campaigns and media that’s mainly what you hear about. The pictures we usually see in fundraisers are of poor African children. Hunger and poverty is ugly, and it calls for action. But while these images can engage people in the short term, we are concerned that many people simply give up because it seems like nothing is getting better. Africa should not just be something that people either give to, or give up on. The truth is that there are many positive developments in African countries, and we want these to become known. We need to change the simplistic explanations of problems in Africa. We need to educate ourselves on the complex issues and get more focus on how western countries have a negative impact on Africa’s development. If we want to address the problems the world is facing we need to do it based on knowledge and respect."
