I receive tons of junk mail from NGO’s trying to sign me up for monthly donor plans. On the envelopes they use really provocative words like RAPE, KILLED, TORTURE, and DESPERATE. I see these words and feel ill right before I toss the whole unopened envelop into the recycling bin next to my front door. Why does this type of marketing make me want to puke?
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), charities and churches use Poverty Pornography all the time to get donations for a cause. Poverty Porn is advertising that exploits your emotions for cash. An example is a picture of impoverished kids with big hopeful eyes and slogans that say something like “if you aren’t the solution you are the problem. Please give generously.” I hate this stuff when I see it because it is damaging to long-term social change that will eventually end extreme poverty; it’s an abuse of my good intentions.
I was invited to speak on this topic a couple days ago by the Raincoast Sustainable Living Program in Tofino, BC. We don’t generally think sustainable living would be affected by Poverty Porn but the presentation really struck a chord with the audience and it turns out that it does. Many of the ideas I presented came from my own experiences or from discussions with peers. Some ideas came from exceptional sites like AidThoughts.org and GlobalPovertyProject.org and they are worth looking at if you want to take your own research further.
After the presentation and over an hour of discussion it seemed that most people were on the same wavelength. We had analyzed a few examples of photographs, videos and NGO ad campaigns. The audience was convinced that poverty porn needs to go. Learning to be critical of this type of marketing is the first step in making it end and people have been posting direct examples on their Facebook pages for critique by friends and people who attended the talk. It is a good practice for everyone involved. Judging which ads are Poverty Porn and which ones are not is difficult sometimes but you can usually feel it and those get posted and articulately ripped to shreds.
Contribution and service to your community is a positive lifestyle choice, not a negative taxation for living. We shouldn’t be coerced by feelings of guilt, as a species we can do better than that. We should be encouraged by NGOs to serve our communities with clear positive intentions of empathy. Sell me a lifestyle and if I think it’s worth living I guarantee you I’ll be happy to pay for it. Don’t exploit my emotional impulses and expect me to be happy about that the next day.
Hugh Evans from the Global Poverty Project shared a powerful statistic that I know you are wondering about at this point. For every $1 spent advertising with Poverty Porn $4 gets donated. Pound for pound, Poverty Porn is the most efficient cash generator but it is based on short-term economic theory and it’s harmful to everyone involved.
I feel that my only true strength comes from being empathic – sensing myself in everything makes me want to care for it deeply to honour my own life. To serve the world is to serve yourself and when cheap attempts of guilt evoking marketing material make me feel bad, the world is worse, not better. Poverty porn breeds animosity and fortifies a subconscious us and them mentality that is harmful. An empathic lifestyle on the other hand, is sustainable because it nurtures everyone involved – it builds strong bonds essential for a secure community.
Thankfully, there is evidence everywhere in our communities that empathy is on the rise. A couple years ago I did a project called Connecting With Kenya that involved over 5000 people. Part of the project was about fund raising but most of it was about creating opportunities for people to serve their community using individual strengths. Artists painted, children wrote poems, essays, songs, and research papers on things like volcanoes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Some people traveled to Kenya while others spoke with dozens of community groups. Royston Elementary School held an African Christmas Concert to embrace their new found understanding of African cultures. The project is one of thousands that has been successful because it was fun. All that fun raised over $47,000 for Free The Children and most of the people involved started a project of their own right afterwords to keep the energy flowing. Fun is sustainable when you are open to feelings of empathy. The revolution is here and all you have to do to join is be yourself.
Press: Read the article from the Westerly News about this presentation.
This is a short survey intro to a huge topic so feel free to leave comments below. Thanks for reading and sharing.
