Let’s get KONY in 2012
KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children – that has gone viral globally over the last few days – that aims to make notorious Ugandan guerilla group leader Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.
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DIRECTOR: Jason Russell LEAD EDITOR: Kathryn Lang EDITORS: Kevin Trout, Jay Salbert, Jesse Eslinger LEAD ANIMATOR: Chad Clendinen ANIMATOR: Jesse Eslinger 3-D MODELING: Victor Soto VISUAL EFFECTS: Chris Hop WRITERS: Jason Russell, Jedidiah Jenkins, Kathryn Lang, Danica Russell, Ben Keesey, Azy Groth PRODUCERS: Kimmy Vandivort, Heather Longerbeam, Chad Clendinen, Noelle Jouglet ORIGINAL SCORES: Joel P. West SOUND MIX: Stephen Grubbs, Mark Friedgen, Smart Post Sound COLOR: Damian Pelphrey, Company 3 CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, Laren Poole, Gavin Kelly, Chad Clendinen, Kevin Trout, Jay Salbert, Shannon Lynch PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: Jaime Landsverk LEAD DESIGNER: Tyler Fordham DESIGNERS: Chadwick Gantes, Stephen Witmer
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36 Comments
Simply awesome
released just in time for cannes. couldn’t have they released it early to stop more children being abused rather than time it perfectly to get awards?
Great use of the interwebs, well done to those involved. I’m a little uncomfortable with how fashionable it is though.
Sadly, that’s the way charity seems to work though.
kony for president
Before everyone jumps on the Invisible Children bandwagon. i recommend they do a little research.
http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/
http://ilto.wordpress.com/2006/11/02/the-visible-problem-with-invisible-children/
It made me somewhat uncomfortable watching, making me think who is this about? Having said that we all know it’s the best way you tell a story that helps it spread.
Please read http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/ as a thought provoking other side of the argument before you decide how best to help.
http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble
@badtiming: Cannes? Really. You have a very nasty little advertising-only mind.
@me: if by “fashionable” you mean people are taking notice and doing something then I’m not sure why you would be uncomfortable about it? It’s not the latest craze, it’s people power, an old fashioned notion that’s been ‘done before’ for sure.
how about putting your hands in your pockets or at the very least supporting these people who are trying to fix a frightening situation.
I’m with jen…
little advertising brains kids
http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/
OPEN YOUR EYES: this is an ad for a charity organization that MAKES money.
It’s a nice finished product, for a good cause, but it’s for profit organization, not a charity.
This is inception of communication.
This is where the money goes.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html
What I find interesting about this whole thing is the way everything seems to work in the social media space.
Mini docos/hype tapes like KONY 2012 whip up emotion by giving people just enough ‘facts’ make them care and share. It all seems reasonable and real enough on the video and the story was brilliantly told – like a modern day interactive parable – where right and wrong are clear and people can easily get involved and make a difference. Every person with a heart and trusting/lazy mind can jump on board.
Meanwhile those in the blogosphere with discerning/critical/cynical minds will then elevate themselves above the ‘mindless’ masses by investigating/devil’s advocating/ undermining the subject of mass adulation to accentuate their own intellectual superiority.
Moral of the story:
Just because it moved you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think about it.
Just because someone picked at it and tried to undermine it doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile.
Just because you skimmed a blog doesn’t make you smarter.
Think deeper.
And don’t post for social cache.
For the record… I think KONY 2012 is brilliant for so many reasons that have nothing to do with advertising awards.
One does not simply destabilize a Ugandan warlord by liking a status.
@Really.
So give some money then. The link is 10 inches away.
Having done a bit of research, the real problem here seems to be the side that is getting rid of Kony is just as bad, when it comes to child soldiers. (Not the charity, the Ugandan army)
Having said that, this film will, ultimately, also help bring that fact in to the light.
Bad Timing…
The very fact that your first thought was about awards makes you a little sadder than any motivation the film makers had.
The fact that you put post to thought makes you just, well weird/stupid.
As others have mentioned:
Last year, the Invisible Children organization spent $8,676,614. Only 32% went to direct services, with much of the rest going to staff salaries, travel and transport, and film production. This is far from ideal for an issue which arguably needs action and aid, not awareness, and Charity Navigator rates their accountability 2/4 stars because they lack an external audit committee.
Is awareness good? Yes. But these problems are highly complex, not one-dimensional and, frankly, aren’t of the nature that can be solved by postering, film-making and changing your Facebook profile picture, as hard as that is to swallow. Giving your money and public support to Invisible Children so they can spend it on supporting ill-advised violent intervention and movie #12 isn’t helping. Do I have a better answer? No, I don’t, but that doesn’t mean that you should support KONY 2012 just because it’s something. Something isn’t always better than nothing. Sometimes it’s worse.
http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/
Even if all the criticism of Invisible Children is justified, this campaign has clearly motivated people to learn more about the subject – even if it just to poke borax.
it is a nice product demonstration of the new facebook timeline also. For those of you who haven’t switched to the new format, you can see how easy it is to scroll back to 2005 when the film-makers first met some of these youth.
Showing ad people and the corporate world that social media is about people. Most brands are turning social media into social junk mail.
Can everyone posting this link: http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/ go look at the latest post. You all look a little silly.
And the point is? Every charity (like people) has flaws. Doesn’t mean you have to throw stones at them.
You’re silly if you think other charities do better. And anything is better than doing nothing.
This would be really, really brilliant if Kony didn’t actually exist. How many of you guys have ever heard of him before….
@Cynic.
But Cynic, in the film they’re not actually primarily asking for money. They want public awareness to pressure the US government to stay on the problem.
http://ilto.wordpress.com/2006/11/02/the-visible-problem-with-invisible-children/
This is brilliant and to think it was done without an ad agency.
@SillySammy @DearSammy – you didn’t read the post did you? I’m in support of this campaign. If you read is again I was asking people to go to the blog which every cynic is using as a reference as they have put a new post which shows where all the funding goes and explains their current charity ranking.
Can you read the post again now?
Watched the full video last night and it scared the hell out of me for two reasons.
Firstly, because I didn’t know about this guy at all. For that reason, this campaign is fantastic. If it gets rid of this evil arsehole, which I reckon it probably will, brilliant.
But the second reason it scared me is because it is a stark reminder of the power of propaganda in social media. And as we all know, there are two sides to propaganda.
Scam
What saddens me about this is the number of people saying ‘I had never heard of this guy before’ – including hosts of current affairs show like Charlie Pickering.
Bloody hell it’s been a tragedy for a decade – what do you people read or watch to get your news? How could you not be aware of it?
The increased awareness of the issue (finally) is heartening, but I am still unsure of how donating $20 will help capture him. Sadly they’ve been trying to for years.
He really need to be stop. lets get him plastered every were all gods children need freedom not people like kony they need help the people us are there we can be history not him us they us not him don’t be lazy get up off the sofa and get heard we need to stop all the drama they need help we are here USA
I have read about kony for decades and it’s about time someone did something
about him and his gang. Now it’s happened and I h ave nothing but praise for
these guys who got this rolling. I intend to donate.
I’ve heard a little about the children soldiers and the sex slaves. It’s hard too even imagine what life is like elsewhere sitting cosily in front of a PC, Laptop, Mobile, etc. Too many people try to look to far out of the square and have become way too cynical. if this bloke can be stopped by ‘liking’ a link, well let’s stop him committing autrocities.
Give Kony the flick!