Charity ads you'd swear by

It's safe to say that there are many great charities in the world, pulling together for massive causes that could help millions of people. However it's just not possible to give money to them all, which is why charities have to go the extra mile with ads showing us the worst possible scenes; a beaten woman, a cat with no limbs or a child covered in flies. I think it is also safe to say that, as a viewer, we have become immune to these kinds of images. We all know what horror goes on in the world, but it's shown so regularly in the same ways that unfortunately it isn't as hard hitting any more. These ads rarely make us reach for the phone and act.

A year or so ago I wrote a post about the first charity ad that had my full attention, NSPCC's -'The Shit Kids Say'. Now I have been moved by Breast Cancer's Race for Life ad, 'Up Yours, Cancer'. Instead of the usual plee and sadness, it focuses on the strength of women and their fight for life. 

When I interned at The Good Agency last year, Breast Cancer was one of their clients and they were working on the Race for Life campaigns. The focus was on the fun of the run; how you can jog, skip or dance all the way to the finish line. It was about the joy and happiness of achieving the run and raising money for cancer. 

In one of the creative meetings there were images on the wall; women in fancy dress, laughing and smiling. Amongst these happy faces, I remember seeing one photo of a woman who looked really tired and emotional. Her eyes watery, her face red... she didn't look happy. She looked like she'd been through something, that she had a story. It was a far more personal photo and I put forward to the team that this was far more hard hitting and would have more of an effect on me than the happy images.

This year, Mother London came up with this completely different campaign. No more sympathy, no pleas for money or help. These women are strong, independent and out for revenge. With women spitting out lines such as 'Cancer, you prat', and 'Up Yours, Cancer', along with the flash of an X-ray of a two finger salute - this definitely gets your attention. I ran the Race for Life a couple of years ago and you feel really empowered when running with an army of women, even if you're doing it alone.

There is no doubt that the public need a new kind of hard-hitting and I think this particular campaign does the job. Even if it doesn't make you sign up, it still sparks conversation and brings attention to the subject which can only be a positive thing.