DARE Ventures into New Territory with Charity Ad

Of you reading this, put your hand up if you donate regularly to charity or volunteer in your spare time.

My guess is that very few – and I’m including myself in this statistic – actually do any charity work. But then, if we’re not giving our time and money to charity, what the hell are we actually doing? asks digital agency DARE in a new campaign for volunteering charity Mellon Educate.

Partizan director Martin Stirling takes a radical new approach to charity advertising in this campaign in a bid to capture the hearts and imagination of potential donators.

To promote the charity’s Building Blitz programme – where volunteers spend a week constructing schools in Africa – the ad looks at the activities and thoughts of the average human, boiling them all down to a single teaspoon of opportunity.

The ad then transforms into a series of click bait videos, cleverly tricking the viewer into think the ad has finished and moved onto another popular video, like Hot Girl Fail or Cute Puppy. When, really, the ad is still rolling and provides ample opportunity to drill the charity message back into the viewer.

“Charity advertising can be very staid, safe and boring,” says DARE's ECD Brian Cooper. “With Mellon Educate we wanted to produce something that was funny, engaging and spoke to its younger target audience in a way that we know resonates. Our video campaign is punchy and we expect the videos to be enjoyed and shared – boosting the profile of Mellon Educate.”

Sounds like a win-win and like it could pave the way for more creative and experimental charity advertising. To find out more, follow the #WTFHYD hashtag online.