FCB CHICAGO AND GETTY IMAGES – CAN A MARKETING CAMPAIGN CHANGE THE WORLD?

Did you know that more people die from drinking impure water than from war?

This surprising information served as a motivation for the fundraising campaign that Getty Images started in collaboration with FCB Chicago. The whole campaign was launched on March 22, World Water Day.

“Water is one of the essential elements in our lives, so on World Water Day this year, we’re kicking off a movement to help bring awareness to and raise funds for the global water crisis,” Getty Images chief operating officer Craig Peters said in a statement, according to Adweek.

Adweek reports that Getty Images created a “Watermarks for Water” collection featuring 300 photographs from top photographers that illustrate the hardships people without access to clean water face. Each time one of the images is licensed, the Getty Images watermark will be removed and part of earnings will be invested into providing clean drinking water to people in developing countries.

Photography has the power to capture the moment, which makes it a powerful instrument in provoking an emotional response. Like all other powerful instruments, in the wrong hands, photography can be misused. This misuse involves special kind of reality exposure that creates an attraction out of it. That way, instead of pointing out its negative aspects, misused photography can make people-spectators become immune to the things they see. After becoming numb by consuming too much violent content, spectators also become totally passive and uninterested in the world that surrounds them.

The campaign created by FCB Chicago and Getty Images does exactly the opposite. It returns the power to the photography so that it can have a positive impact by provoking an emotional reaction in the viewers, but it doesn’t stop there. Watermarks for Water calls for a concrete action – fundraising that leads towards a visible social change.

The central message of the campaign’s introduction video is: „Changing the world is as simple as removing a watermark.“

Finally, this inspirational campaign reminds us that our individual contributions are sufficient to change things we don’t like about the world. Our activity is literary all we need to alter the picture we see. This is highlighted by choosing the photography as our medium. It’s up to us to decide whether we’ll give it a try or not.