Top 10 YouTube videos for social good, via Mashable
After shooting some video content for the new pyjamas campaign yesterday I thought I would have a look into some new ideas on how other charities are using viral video to get the word out there about their cause. I came across this article on Mashable ” Top 10 YouTube videos for Social Good”
http://mashable.com/2009/08/19/youtube-social-good/
Top 10 YouTube Videos for Social Good
Web video can be an especially effective way for charities to get the word out about their cause. Moving pictures are compelling because they represent a very visual and visceral way to both inform and entertain. Web video in particular can be a boon to non-profit organizations because it is both cost effective (uploading a video to YouTube (YouTube) is free), and potentially viral.
Of course, standing out among the tens of thousands of videos on the web isn’t easy. In general, the most creative videos tend to be the most memorable and leave a more lasting impression. Below are our picks for the top 10 YouTube videos for social good and why they’re awesome. Please let us know your favorite social good videos in the comments.
1. Because we’re all connected
Who: WWF
What: A global environmental charity organization with the goal of building a future in which “humans live in harmony with nature.”
Why it Rocks: WWF regularly puts out awesome videos on YouTube. Their production values are always high and they almost always find a clever way to impart information; the “Because we’re all connected” video is a perfect example. It uses impressive animations to tell the story of how everything on earth is connected and how the actions of humans ultimately effect the environment and quality of life of everything on the planet.
2. The World Sucks: Help it Suck Less
Who: The Nerdfighters
What: Two brothers who communicate via video blogs and campaign to “decrease worldsuck” by getting people to donate to worthy causes. Known for engineering YouTube Takeovers for charity.
Why it Rocks: Brothers John and Hank got together earlier this year to help announce YouTube’s Video Volunteers program, which on its own is a pretty awesome program. (It encourages YouTubers to record videos for charity.) But the reason the Nerdfighters video is so great is because it draws on their already established fan base by including inside jokes and the familiar back-and-forth set up that the pair have been using for two years.
3. Harry Potter and the Dark Lord Waldemart
Who: The Harry Potter Alliance
What: A collection of Harry Potter fans who, by following the examples of the characters in the books, do good by “fighting the dark arts” in the real world.
Why it Rocks: This video, which has had over 2 million views, casts Harry Potter against the evil Lord Waldemart (the Wal-Mart Corporation) in order to benefit Wal-Mart Watch, a group that fights for worker’s rights. The video is clever because it plays off of pop culture icons to make its point in an interesting and entertaining way.
4. Breathe in, Breathe out
Who: Greenpeace
What: An international organization that “acts to change attitudes and behavior, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.”
Why it Rocks: As part of their “Campaign for a World We Can Breathe In,” this video gets an important message across about how ocean health affects the quality of our breathable air. The piece leaves such an impression because of its masterful and haunting use of ocean imagery set to the soundtrack of someone breathing in and out. It won Best Public Service Announcement in the 2008 DoGooder.tv Non-Profit Video Awards.
5. Into Darfur: A Young American’s Journey
Who: Oxfam America
What: An organization that works around the world to correct social injustice and give people the skills and resources necessary to build a more positive future.
Why it Rocks: This five-minute video recounts 18-year old Nick Anderson’s visit to Darfur in 2007. It’s compelling because it’s real. Even though it’s low budget and was shot using a cheap, handheld camera, it works because Anderson is instantly relatable as an average American. Authenticity can go a long way, as this video from Oxfam America proves.
6. Save the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium!
Who: The Wildlife Conservation Society
What: Founded in 1895, the WCS aims to protect wildlife and wild spaces around the globe. They operate the Bronx, Prospect Park, Central Park, and Queens Zoos as well as the New York Aquarium.
Why it Rocks: In January of 2009, when the New York State legislature voted to cut funding for the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium, the WCS launched a petition drive to get them to change their minds. To promote the petition, they created this clever video of zoo animals getting the bad news broken to them. It works because it’s clever, it’s funny, it’s informative, and the animals are absolutely adorable.
7. World Water Day Video from charity: water
Who: charity: water
What: Best known on the web as the benefactor of the first global Twestival, charity: water helps bring access to clean drinking water to those who lack the vital resource.
Why it Rocks: Their video for 2009’s World Water Day in March combined striking video images and gorgeous motion graphics with a meaningful song to create a compelling and informative presentation. The video ran with a “call to action” overlay advertisement asking people to donate, and helped raise $10,000 in one day for the charity.
8. A New Sound: Green For All
Who: Green For All
What: An organization with the goal of lifting people out of poverty by creating a new green economy.
Why it Rocks: Green For All’s music video puts pollution to a beat. The video is catchy and more than a bit frightening in the way that it uses sounds we all know — the wheezes of an asthma sufferer, the industrial noise of a factory, the sounds of traffic — to create a song that builds to a crescendo before dissolving into a friendlier tune and narration about the promise of a green economy.
9. The Bay vs. The Bag
Who: Save the Bay San Francisco
What: Save the Bay attempts to do just what the name implies: protect and clean up the San Francisco bay area.
Why it Rocks: Created as part of their The Bay vs. The Bag campaign, the video was intended to educate people about the over 1 million plastic bags that end up polluting the San Francisco Bay every year. Using amazing stop-motion graphics, the Save the Bay was able to create a memorable image of what that many bags actually looks like and just how gross that really is.
10. Choose a Different Ending
Who: droptheweapons.org
What: An organization run by the Metropolitan Police Service of London that aims to raise awareness of knife and gun violence and encourage people to reconsider carrying a weapon.
Why it Rocks: This video, which is a narrative about a young person deciding which group of friends to hang out with, is one of the most clever on YouTube. The reason it’s so engaging is because it’s presented in “choose your own adventure” style. That’s right — it’s an interactive video, and you determine the ending based on which choices you make. It is very well done and extremely powerful.
http://mashable.com/2009/08/19/youtube-social-good/
Top 10 YouTube Videos for Social Good
Web video can be an especially effective way for charities to get the word out about their cause. Moving pictures are compelling because they represent a very visual and visceral way to both inform and entertain. Web video in particular can be a boon to non-profit organizations because it is both cost effective (uploading a video to YouTube (YouTube) is free), and potentially viral.
Of course, standing out among the tens of thousands of videos on the web isn’t easy. In general, the most creative videos tend to be the most memorable and leave a more lasting impression. Below are our picks for the top 10 YouTube videos for social good and why they’re awesome. Please let us know your favorite social good videos in the comments.
1. Because we’re all connected
Who: WWF
What: A global environmental charity organization with the goal of building a future in which “humans live in harmony with nature.”
Why it Rocks: WWF regularly puts out awesome videos on YouTube. Their production values are always high and they almost always find a clever way to impart information; the “Because we’re all connected” video is a perfect example. It uses impressive animations to tell the story of how everything on earth is connected and how the actions of humans ultimately effect the environment and quality of life of everything on the planet.
2. The World Sucks: Help it Suck Less
Who: The Nerdfighters
What: Two brothers who communicate via video blogs and campaign to “decrease worldsuck” by getting people to donate to worthy causes. Known for engineering YouTube Takeovers for charity.
Why it Rocks: Brothers John and Hank got together earlier this year to help announce YouTube’s Video Volunteers program, which on its own is a pretty awesome program. (It encourages YouTubers to record videos for charity.) But the reason the Nerdfighters video is so great is because it draws on their already established fan base by including inside jokes and the familiar back-and-forth set up that the pair have been using for two years.
3. Harry Potter and the Dark Lord Waldemart
Who: The Harry Potter Alliance
What: A collection of Harry Potter fans who, by following the examples of the characters in the books, do good by “fighting the dark arts” in the real world.
Why it Rocks: This video, which has had over 2 million views, casts Harry Potter against the evil Lord Waldemart (the Wal-Mart Corporation) in order to benefit Wal-Mart Watch, a group that fights for worker’s rights. The video is clever because it plays off of pop culture icons to make its point in an interesting and entertaining way.
4. Breathe in, Breathe out
Who: Greenpeace
What: An international organization that “acts to change attitudes and behavior, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.”
Why it Rocks: As part of their “Campaign for a World We Can Breathe In,” this video gets an important message across about how ocean health affects the quality of our breathable air. The piece leaves such an impression because of its masterful and haunting use of ocean imagery set to the soundtrack of someone breathing in and out. It won Best Public Service Announcement in the 2008 DoGooder.tv Non-Profit Video Awards.
5. Into Darfur: A Young American’s Journey
Who: Oxfam America
What: An organization that works around the world to correct social injustice and give people the skills and resources necessary to build a more positive future.
Why it Rocks: This five-minute video recounts 18-year old Nick Anderson’s visit to Darfur in 2007. It’s compelling because it’s real. Even though it’s low budget and was shot using a cheap, handheld camera, it works because Anderson is instantly relatable as an average American. Authenticity can go a long way, as this video from Oxfam America proves.
6. Save the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium!
Who: The Wildlife Conservation Society
What: Founded in 1895, the WCS aims to protect wildlife and wild spaces around the globe. They operate the Bronx, Prospect Park, Central Park, and Queens Zoos as well as the New York Aquarium.
Why it Rocks: In January of 2009, when the New York State legislature voted to cut funding for the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium, the WCS launched a petition drive to get them to change their minds. To promote the petition, they created this clever video of zoo animals getting the bad news broken to them. It works because it’s clever, it’s funny, it’s informative, and the animals are absolutely adorable.
7. World Water Day Video from charity: water
Who: charity: water
What: Best known on the web as the benefactor of the first global Twestival, charity: water helps bring access to clean drinking water to those who lack the vital resource.
Why it Rocks: Their video for 2009’s World Water Day in March combined striking video images and gorgeous motion graphics with a meaningful song to create a compelling and informative presentation. The video ran with a “call to action” overlay advertisement asking people to donate, and helped raise $10,000 in one day for the charity.
8. A New Sound: Green For All
Who: Green For All
What: An organization with the goal of lifting people out of poverty by creating a new green economy.
Why it Rocks: Green For All’s music video puts pollution to a beat. The video is catchy and more than a bit frightening in the way that it uses sounds we all know — the wheezes of an asthma sufferer, the industrial noise of a factory, the sounds of traffic — to create a song that builds to a crescendo before dissolving into a friendlier tune and narration about the promise of a green economy.
9. The Bay vs. The Bag
Who: Save the Bay San Francisco
What: Save the Bay attempts to do just what the name implies: protect and clean up the San Francisco bay area.
Why it Rocks: Created as part of their The Bay vs. The Bag campaign, the video was intended to educate people about the over 1 million plastic bags that end up polluting the San Francisco Bay every year. Using amazing stop-motion graphics, the Save the Bay was able to create a memorable image of what that many bags actually looks like and just how gross that really is.
10. Choose a Different Ending
Who: droptheweapons.org
What: An organization run by the Metropolitan Police Service of London that aims to raise awareness of knife and gun violence and encourage people to reconsider carrying a weapon.
Why it Rocks: This video, which is a narrative about a young person deciding which group of friends to hang out with, is one of the most clever on YouTube. The reason it’s so engaging is because it’s presented in “choose your own adventure” style. That’s right — it’s an interactive video, and you determine the ending based on which choices you make. It is very well done and extremely powerful.
Add a Comment
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Comment by Kyle Murdoch on August 26, 2009 at 1:31pm -
I love the last campaign by droptheweapons.org, "choose a different ending". The interaction with the videos is great and i personally haven't seen this idea before. It let's people in gangs etc think seriously what could happen to them. They really have marketed this in the right place by putting the videos onto youtube, where most kids spend there time.
What are your thoughts on these videos? would love to hear your thoughts ?
Thanks
Kyle
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