Feed SA Trolley Ad

'Feed SA, a charity dedicated to feeding disadvantaged people throughout South Africa, teamed up with TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Johannesburg to create an effective campaign to increase contribution of food to Feed SA. Images of hungry, begging street children were effectively placed at the bottom of supermarket shopping trolleys, bearing the Feed SA website, www.feedsa.co.za, as well as the following line: ‘See how easy feeding the hungry can be’. Any food that was placed into the trolley appeared as if ‘actual food’ was being given to a street child.'  
           - http://totallymadza.wordpress.com/category/marketing-news/campaign-success/

This charity campaign works well to hit hard on the emotions of food shoppers.  The image of the begging child  is placed in the bottom of trolleys meaning that the consumer is forced to look at the image every time they put something in.  This 'guilt trip' is a typical feature of charity ad campaigns as how else would they get people to donate.  Feed SA have carefully considered their target audience.  The people who donate to their charity will more than likely be adults (over the age of 18).  Therefore, people who use big trolleys to get their weekly shopping will probably be adults and not children/teenagers who are not eligible to donate.  The food shopper would also be with their trolley for maybe an hour or so, repeatedly glancing at it, meaning the image would stick in their minds for a few hours after they have seen it.  The dark background surrounding the child gives the impression that they are alone and that their life is dark and grim.  The use of colour helps to convey how vital the donations are to the charity in being able to remove children from their horrible fate of possible starvation.

I find it interesting how Feed SA have been able to engage the consumer with a simple image.  There are no words needed for this campaign as the solution comes from human nature and what we instinctually feel is the right thing to do - donate to starving children.  This campaign proved to be a success as donations increased by an incredible 26%.  I am seeing more of a trend in the methods advertisers use to get into the minds of the consumer.  Emotional manipulation seems to be the key, but I have to ask myself, is this the only way to sway the minds of millions?