There’s nothing more inspiring to me than when a not for profit uses a common social media trend and turns it around to do something positive. This is exactly what “Water is life” did in their First World Problems Campaign
First World Problems Hashtag
To give some background, the #FirstWorldProblem’s hashtag is used by people when they want to complain about something that would only happen in the developed world. Say your coffee is too cold or you had to stand up on the train. The use of the hashtag itself is an indication that the person knows that this isn’t a real problem, in the grand scheme of things, but social media turned it into a trend.
This hashtag has been used frequently on various social media outlets such as Instagram, Facebook but more heavily on Twitter.
Below are just some examples of what the hashtag is used for:
It was getting to the point when the overuse of the hashtag first world problems was getting a little irritating. Personally, I’ve never used this hashtag myself to complain or whinge about slow internet or the public transport system. Being born in a country like Bangladesh, I don’t easily complain about things because I have seen what it’s like for people to not have access to clean water and the diseases and deaths that occur as a result of it.
Water is Life Campaign
That’s why I was inspired by the campaign which tried to turn this misused saying around.
The video featured a series of Haitian children and adults reading out tweets written by those more fortunate.
With lines such as “ I hate it when my house is so big that I need two wireless routers” are spoken by a man with a broken down tiny home, it really uses the shock tactic to appeal to viewers. Another Haitian child says, “I hate it when I ask for no pickles, but they still give me pickles.”
When you look at this and juxtapose it with the content of what they are saying, it is a stark reminder of how lucky we are living in the developed world. It will take the viewer on a guilt trip for using this hashtag and turn their eye to the actual cause being promoted.
The campaign was immediately picked up and quickly went viral. I loved this idea because it was something new and original, it used popular social media trends and turned it upside down, not just for fun, but to make a powerful statement. I bet it increased their donations too.