“Nothing is the problem. Nothing is the solution. Nothing is the Campaign.” These words can be found on Nothing.org‘s website. The “Nothing” campaign has worked with food banks in four states (Rhode Island, Ohio, New Hampshire, and Vermont). The idea behind their campaign is that there are thousands of people everyday who eat nothing, and donating to the “Nothing” campaign can help provide meals to those people.
It’s a unique campaign because, rather than asking people to simply donate money or food, they ask people to purchase cans of nothing which symbolize the lack of food other people have (there is also an option for traditional donations). In Vermont, the money from those cans provides 18 meals to Vermont citizens through the Vermont Foodbank. Cans of nothing can even be purchased in local grocery stores.
The video below is from Nothing.org/Vermont. It begins with a sign that says, “Taste Test Today!” The taste test is actually a man revealing empty plates to people. He tells those people that they are going to try something a lot of Vermonters have everyday. The end of the video encourages viewers to either go to the website or donate directly to the foodbank via text.
When looking at the videos for the other states, the man running the taste test changes the name of the state but everything else in the video, including the people participating, remains the same. I would consider this to be slightly misleading.
As an audience member, and a person living in Vermont, I would think that the people in the video are connecting personally to the issues plaguing those in my state. Unfortunately, this campaign is not as personalized as I thought, though the fact that people are being helped does not change.
The different websites also have essentially the same story under the “Nothing is the Campaign” tab. Each talks about the effects of the recession, and how it has forced people to turn to food shelters. Some of the sentences are nearly identical, with only the name of the state being changed.
Perhaps it is not very important that the different websites for each state don’t vary much. This uniformity may even be beneficial to the success of this clever campaign. Regardless, the message may be slightly misleading to audience members, especially those who don’t look at the other pages. Does the misleading nature of this advertisement bother anyone else? Does it affect the message of the campaign?
NP 4/30
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