Save Darfur patently aims to “save Darfur” by raising awareness, not by providing on-the-ground humanitarian assistance. This is clearly defined on the organization’s website. Yet, through the advertising techniques employed in its media campaigns, the Save Darfur coalition misleads the public by giving off the image of a humanitarian relief organization. Maggie Schwalbach takes a closer look at the coalition’s media campaigns and investigates the assumptions present in the advertisements by exploring the moral consequences of raising awareness based on victimization and perpetuating stereotypes of Africans as helpless.
Engrossing visuals. Catchy sound bites. Slick mood lighting. Glossy photography exhibits. Celebrity endorsers. Rock bands, movie stars, screaming fans…
It must be the launch of new running shoe or a summer Hollywood blockbuster, right?
Wrong. This is anti-genocide advocacy for the 21st century: a hybrid of promotional branding, simplified foreign political coverage and interventionist missionary ideology.
Today’s information landscape in the United States is saturated with commercial brand endorsements and increasing controlled by a monopolization of media industries, characterized in particular with a marked increase in local reporting and entertainment stories and a significant downsizing and simplification of foreign news coverage.