Now there’s a nonprofit, NotOurProblem.org, for those who are not going to do anything when cause advertising calls. And there’s a campaign video showing the reasons people choose “no thanks”.  The commercial and the nonprofit with its site, were created by Quality Meats for Comic Relief, the nonprofit using the power of comedy to drive action for kids facing poverty.

The campaign, running across the US is built on the knowledge that it’s much easier to come up with reasons not to deal with childhood poverty than it is to actually do something about it. The satirical hero film, directed by Brad Morris, takes aim at the absurd, everyday excuses people use to convince themselves that helping is someone else’s responsibility.

The campaign is a fresh departure from traditional cause advertising, using comedy to disarm, disrupt, and draw audiences into a serious issue in an unexpected way. The work is designed with a tone and relevance tailored for today’s cultural moment, directly confronting societal indifference by giving that apathy a name, a logo, and a satirical ad campaign of its own.

Click on NotOurProblem.org and you are redirected to Comic Relief to find the statement, “Child poverty is everyone’s problem”, and its donation page, offering multiple pathways for people to get involved, whether by committing to one simple action a month right where they live, sharing the campaign spot across social media, or connecting with one of Comic Relief’s local neighbourhood festivals.

“Childhood poverty is definitely not funny. In fact, it’s so painfully unfunny, that voluntarily doing nothing about it seems like a joke, said Brian Siedband, co-founder and co-CCO at Quality Meats. “And when you articulate the reasons why most people do nothing about it, when you proudly state it out loud, it sounds completely absurd. We’re using that absurdity as a Trojan horse to get people to question their own reasons for not doing anything.”

A dedicated Not Our Problem Instagram account extends the same deadpan, do-nothing energy (“Doing less. Together. ”) across social media, with Comic Relief reposting the content through its own channels to create another accessible pathway for audiences to discover the campaign and connect with its mission.

Out-of-home and print placements in the Not Our Problem voice lean fully into the satire (“1 in 6 children live in poverty, but ug ggghhhhh, can’t someone else help with that? Do nothing at NotOurProblem.org”), while Comic Relief branded messaging counters by turning the joke into a direct call to action (“Someone should do something about childhood poverty. How about you, person reading this?”).

This is Comic Relief’s first dedicated, brand-focused national campaign and will extend from national reach into neighbourhood action. The PSA will run as across TV, out-of-home, print, and digital, including 60- and 30-second anthem films with 15-second cutdowns, an audio execution for music services, and organic social content to carry the message further.

“Childhood poverty is a national problem happening in our own backyards, it is entirely solvable, and we can’t afford to wait any longer,” stated Michele Ganeless, chief executive officer of Comic Relief. “For too many of us, childhood poverty has been easy to ignore, and an almost acceptable fact of life. Comedy has the unique power to disarm people and say the truth in a way that gets heard and moves people to action, helping change the narrative from there’s nothing we can do about it to there’s something we can all do.”

Credits:

Client: Comic Relief
Chief Executive Officer: Michele Ganeless
Chief Creative Officer: Jordan Kurzweil
Chief Strategy & Impact Officer: Lauren Spitzer
Director, Production: Amy DePaola

Agency: Quality Meats
Co-Founders and Co-Chief Creative Officers: Brian Siedband & Gordy Sang
Creative Directors: Matt McCabe & Alyssa Trocina
Partner, Managing Director: Amy Edwards
Partner, Head of Growth: Jonathan King
Partner, Head of Strategy: Joe Burns
Executive Producer: Cate McManus
Account Supervisor: Gustavo Feria

Director: Brad Morris
Line Producer: Cristin Lim
DoP: Beth Napoli

Post-Production: Echobend
Executive Producer: Ryan Turner
DIT & Assistant Editor: Francisco Lopez
Assistant Editor: Tia Castile
Editor: Emma Kane
Colourist: Moksh Chitkara
Sound Mix: Rob Hill
Original Music: John Merikoski