In an “out-of-the-box” effort to make a difference to at-risk and homeless youth in North America, Virgin Mobile Canada has partnered with Virgin Mobile USA and Virgin’s non-profit foundation to launch its Do Whatever It Takes digital campaign.
For the initiative designed to raise awareness and funds, participants are challenged to create an online pledge promising to do wild stunts if they meet their personal fundraising goal, recording it for the world to see.
The “whatever” can include anything from dressing up in a sparkly tutu to eating a plate of hot peppers – whatever jaw-dropping performance it takes to draw attention to the issue. The campaign, launched yesterday, has already logged 7,000 page views on its site, increasing hour by hour.
Virgin has brought along popular YouTubers and bloggers Michael Buckley of “What the Buck?!” fame and Timothy De La Ghetto to help boost the cause. “I know that kids are kicked out of their homes, often for being gay, and that weighs on my mind every day,” said Buckley.
Agency Mono did the campaign creative and interactive company Lollipop crafted the web site. An equivalent French site, “Faites tout ce qu’il faut” will go live next week.
The program will be accompanied by some viral pieces such as wild postings, along with web ads. The U.S. effort includes a splashy billboard campaign in Los Angeles and Chicago.
“We wanted to engage people to get the word out about the issue of youth homelessness and raise money to get youth off the street – and we wanted to do it in a non-conventional way,” explained Andrew Bridge, managing director of Virgin Mobile Canada. “We want people to create some news around it using their own social networks.
“We’re expecting massive uptake,” Bridge continued. “Richard Branson loved the idea and he’ll be launching his own challenge.”
Other brands are contributing to the anti-homelessness effort this holiday season. MTV News looks at life on the street with its two-part documentary special, Impact: Gimme Shelter, which will be airing on Nov. 27 and Dec. 4.
MTV gave five homeless folks handheld cameras to record their stories of life on the street. “We worked with youth shelters and drop-in centres to capture a ‘street-level’ view of youths dealing with basic daily survival,” said Chad Barclay, MTV producer of the documentary.
