Collective Heart

Free Hugs Korea

The Free Hugs Campaign has officially spread in a big way. Korea's own version launched on YouTube yesterday and already has over 60,000 views, placing it in the Top 10 videos viewed today. It's interesting to see what the YouTube community gravitates toward. I love the idea of free hugs. We all have to start somewhere, and maybe that's what this world really needs right now.

But then I question: why doesn't a video like this one become more viral and inspire YouTubers? Is it because the Free Hugs Campaign is user-generated, and the later is brought to you by the Ad Council? If that is the case, then I think advertising agencies should put the same viral effort into their charity cases that they do into their client work. Or, perhaps the Ad Council needs to rethink how they are reaching their audience and change their media buys...

Don't Forget to Stand up against poverty this weekend

Stand Against Poverty recently reached out to the YouTube community to help promote this fabulous campaign. In addition, their site offers different ways to participate and join the cause--from posting a blog, to starting a forum, to simply just adding a button to your website--it's easy to show your support.

Visit their site today to find out more and what events are happening in your town. And at some point over the weekend, Stand Against Poverty.

Free Hugs Campaign

Jen over at Ebb & Flow reminded me of this fabulous campaign that debuted on YouTube last month. I checked back on its status today-- almost 2million people have viewed it on YouTube alone. In addition, response videos have also received nearly 100,000 views! This is a wonderful example how a viral video can impact a community in a positive way.

Miniature Earth: Donella Meadows' message via video

I came upon this movie on YouTube today. Although I embedded the movie from their site, I also downloaded a flash version from the creator's site, www.miniature-earth.com-- so I could donate to the small $5 charitable request. This viral video campaign was created in order to promote the ideas around Donella Meadows' original "State of the Village Report." Donella passed away in 2000, but her cause continues to be carried out by Sustainability Institute www.sustainer.org. Here is an excerpt from the creator's site:

"The idea of reducing the world’s population to a community of only 100 people is very useful and important. It makes us easily understand the differences in the world.

There are many types of reports that use the Earth’s population reduced to 100 people, especially in the Internet. Ideas like this should be more often shared, especially nowadays when the world seems to be in need of dialogue and understanding among different cultures, in a way that it has never been before."

This viral movie has reached over 2 million people. Please continue to help spread the word, and visit their site to download a flash version, which, by the way, has lovely music.