The Changing Face of Poverty

Showing that the face of poverty is moving closer to home, Campbell Mithun has joined Greater Twin Cities United Way in "Connect With Poverty," an interactive campaign that ties the changing face of poverty with a call to action.

As today's recession has expanded poverty outside its traditional third-world and inner-city areas, more people are in need of help -- and more charities are looking for the means to do that. With this in mind, Campbell Mithun and United Way launched online ads earlier this month saying, "The face of poverty is changing," then ask users to accept or ignore the statement. Those who accept move to the ConnectWithPoverty microsite, created by MRM Worldwide, where they can find ways to get involved. Some ads will include a "text to give" feature to allow donations through a text message.

The campaign, which also includes print and radio ads and Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages, shows poverty as a single mom with mouths to feed, a recently laid-off worker in need of a paycheck or an elderly woman no longer able to care for herself.

"To my mind, we were up against two major issues with this United Way assignment," said Jonathan Hoffman, president-chief creative officer, Campbell Mithun, in announcing the effort. "First, most non-profit work, however provocative and right-minded, leaves the viewer still wondering, 'Ok, but what do you want me to do? How do I do it?' Second, could we tap into new media capabilities to make the idea more relevant and actionable? I believe the 'Connect with Poverty' campaign answers both of these questions very effectively."