Teen fashion ad or youth homelessness campaign? How risky marketing is drawing attention to non-profit causes
Posted January 11, 2023 10:55 pm.
Last Updated January 11, 2023 11:19 pm.
A commercial featuring kids wearing clothing that transforms into sleeping bags or tents, is bringing awareness to youth homelessness in Canada. These ads have been popping up around Vancouver, showing kids dressed in ‘street fashion.’
The reaction online is fairly mixed.
One user commenting, “So sad. And they show a kid who looks barely out of high school. Shake my head.”
Another user bought into the ad entirely, saying, “That poncho looks pretty cool. Street kids these days have it so good. We didn’t have cool poncho when I was frequently “couch surfing” as a teen and young adult.”
Victoria Barclay, Vancouver Regional Team Lead of Raising The Roof, says the ad is in place to spread awareness on how many young people are experiencing homelessness.
Barclay says nine per cent of people experiencing homelessness in Vancouver are youths aged 13 to 24, and in the country, 20 per cent of all people living in those same situations are youths. She also says raising awareness for youth homelessness can have an impact on adult homelessness.
“Oftentimes adults who experience homelessness also have experienced that as youths…So instead of having these Band-Aid solutions, such as a parka that turns into a tent or shoes that you can step on glass with and they won’t get ruined, what it is about is showing that we need to have an actual long term prevention strategy for youth homelessness because that should not exist,” Barclay explained.
One marketing expert says he thinks the ad strikes a balance of being effective while not offensive.
“Because if it wasn’t meant to be a little risky, we wouldn’t be talking about it. And I think the author that the agency or whoever created the ad, they want to do that. They want the dialogue to go out,” said Amar Singh, Director of Strategy at Kipling Media.
Singh says this type of ad strategy has become more popular among non-profits hoping to attract donors.
“How do we all break from all that advertising noise outside? And to get to that audience, audience’s mind, audience’s heart,” Singh asked rhetorically.
The ads were posted across much of Metro Vancouver at place like bus stops.
