The Oxfam­i­ly box

Exhibited by
George Smith.
Added
June 20, 2010
Medium of Communication
Target Audience
Individuals, single gift
Type of Charity
Poverty / social justice
Country of Origin
UK
Date of first appearance
Unknown

SOFII’s view

Sometimes the simple ideas work best. Oxfam's neat device for involving families in the fight against poverty at Christmas time raised a lot of money and also helped families to put their own good fortune into perspective.

Creator / originator

Art director Bob Williamson.

Summary / objectives

A collecting box specially designed to be distributed door-to-door by volunteers. Recipients were asked to place it on their dining-table during the Christmas period. The box packed flat and was enclosed with a reply envelope addressed to Oxfam's regional organiser. Six million boxes were distributed.

Influence / impact

This campaign was totally unprecedented at the time.

Merits

No one has tried it since. Someone should.

This colourful, easy-to-assemble home collecting box comes flat folded.