| medialifemagazine.com Alternative media
Which was exactly the point of a recent alternative media campaign in Israel. Its aim was to raise awareness of those less fortunate and to give a kick in the pants to those with plenty to donate their old clothes to the homeless. Working with its client, Meir Panim Relief Centers, a charity organization, Shimoni Finkelstein Draftfcb Tel Aviv staged the launch of a faux fashion line called the Meir Panim Winter Collection 07/08. Key was a photo shoot in which the models donned outfits collected from the homeless. The photos were then featured in faux catalogues that were dropped off at retail stores and on posters around the city. In large type were the words: “winter 07/08." In smaller type, below, were these words: "Help the homeless get through the winter." Then came the charity's name and a number to call. “Our initial idea was to change the way people think about and value their clothes by bringing together two opposite dress concepts -- clothing as fashion, and clothing as survival,” says Kobi Barki, executive creative director at the agency. “The dissonance was enough to jolt people into reconsidering the more basic function of clothing among those struggling to survive,” Barki says. And the result was just what he was looking for. Barki says primetime news and national newspapers picked up the campaign as a story, creating enough awareness to raise a record amount of clothing and blankets for the homeless. © 2008 Media Life |
