14 DAY TRIAL // The World Food Program (WFP) launched yesterday a contest for "edgy 30 or 60 second video(s) that will make the online community buzz about global hunger." The main targets of this campaign are the raising of the awareness level of the so-called "YouTube generation" in connection to world hunger and deliver the reality of abject poverty and suffering to the media and through that to the masses.
"For those of us doing the day-in, day-out backbreaking work of getting food to hungry people, it's sometimes discouraging how few people understand that hunger stalks and kills a child every five seconds," said WFP communications director Nancy Roman.
The deadline for submitting your video is July 2008 so there's plenty of time left to shoot it but your chances will most likely increase if you feature it on blogs or networking sites like Facebook or MySpace, WFP announced.
Robin Pomeroy of Reuters reports that "the agency [WFP] has posted its own video at its site www.youtube.com/hungerbytes, which shows footage of people in eating competitions bolting down hotdogs and plates of spaghetti, accompanied by The Beatles' song "Piggies"." The end of the video marks the punch line "850 million go to bed hungry every night ? Share." This is not the first time the World Food Program is trying to use computer technology to bring its work to the eyes of the crowds; back in 2005 it launched a video game for kids entitled "Food Force" in which players can plan and deliver emergency food drops to starving people.
The top five clips will be posted by WFP on its YouTube site and the overall winner will receive a trip to one of the agency's relief operations. Good luck and try to do your best because this time it actually matters.