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«Do they know it`s Christmas» wins prize as this year's worst fundraising ad
Tuesday night, this year's worst and best fundraising videos were announced at the official ceremony in Oslo, Norway. Behind the infamous Radiator Awards, is the solidarity and aid organization, SAIH (The Students` and Academics` International Assistance Fund).
«Do they know it`s Christmas» was the obvious winner of this year's least honorable prize, the Rusty Radiator. The video staring Bob Geldof, Bono, One Direction, Sinead O'Connor, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Paloma Faith and Coldplay's Chris Martin received massive criticism, from all over the world, the day it was released.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and this is also the case when it comes to the song «Do They Know It's Christmas, Special Ebola Edition». The music video is condescending, incorrect and long due its expiration date. Bob Geldof and his celebrity friends portray Africa as a doomed continent, a lost case without their saviors from the West. This is a musical performance of the white man's burden. Pathetic and harmful at best, says Martine Jahre, Vice President of SAIH.
White Helmets, Syria won the award for this year's best fundraising video. The Vice President of SAIH says «The Heroes And the Miracle Baby», succeeds where the media continues to fail us.
The media is booming with stories and pictures of helpless Syrian refugees. This film represent a different story. It shows you Syrians, risking their lives on a daily basis, in order to save their fellowmen. Not least, it shows that you can tell a strong and graphic story without using stereotypical pictures. In this video, the donors are not the number one priority; instead, they choose to be true to the issue, says Vice President of SAIH, Martine Jahre.
This is the third time the Norwegian NGO, SAIH (The Students and Academics' International Assistance Fund) organize the Radiator Awards in Oslo. In previous years, the organization has had huge international success with their satirical videos on aid communication, such as "Radi-Aid: Africa for Norway" that went viral in 2012.
The organization is tired of old-fashioned and damaging fundraising campaigns that every year see the light of day. The hope is that the awards will challenge the use of stereotypes in the aid organizations' fundraising work, and help change the way organizations are communicating about complex issues such as international development.
We want to change the way in which the aid industry is communicating about development and poverty and see an end to the harmful use of stereotypical storytelling in aid communication, says Martine Jahre, Vice President of SAIH.