Brand cops mandate stupid Haiti ad

It would be best not to follow this example of fundraising for the disaster in Haiti. Or so Jeff Brooks thinks.

Donor-centric but stupid? It’s possible

Sometimes a stupid nonprofit ad campaign has an odd little grain of smart in it, like this print ad campaign here on SOFII. Do you agree with Jeff Brooks when he says that it doesn’t quite make it, as a way to raise money?

This ad accuses repressive governments of absent-mindedness

As with other bad nonprofit ads, the question is this: why resort to abstraction when the truth itself is so powerful?

Disaster fundraising at its worst

After the earthquake in Haiti, it didn’t take long for the bad fundraising messages to crawl out of the woodwork. Here's an example of run-amok abstractionism, from the People of The United Methodist Church. I’m guessing that they had some help from an ad agency on this one. Who else could have screwed up such a simple and compelling message?

Violent video explodes nonprofit’s reputation

Jeff Brooks identifies not just a bad advert but, in his view, an evil one. He argues that this aberration has done lasting damage to the charity’s cause and reputation. Agree or disagree – what do you think?

A number of people have asked if I planned to feature this short film produced for climate change charity 10:10 in this bad nonprofit ad showcase.