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GLOBAL, DECEMBER 6, 2010 – On December 1, 2010, World AIDS Day, big names in entertainment ended their digital lives as part of of TBWAChiatDay New York’s Digital Death campaign for Keep a Child Alive’s “Buy Life” initiative. The initiative has so far raised nearly $300,000 in the five days it has been running.
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The world’s top tweeters are sacrificing their digital lives to give real life to others affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Ryan Seacrest, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Khloe Karshasian, Jay Sean, Swizz Beatz, Serena Williams, The Buried Life, Elijah Wood, Janelle Monae, Kimberly Cole, Daphne Guinness and Bronson Pelletier signed off from all social networking platforms including Twitter and Facebook in solidarity for those in Africa & India affected by HIV/AIDS. The participating celebrities will not come back online until their lives are “bought back” and $1 million has been collectively raised for KCA.
TBWA is also supporting the initiative by signing off its digital platforms as well, including its website TBWA.com, Facebook and Twitter feed.
Lisa Topol, Group Creative Director, TBWAChiatDay New York, said, “Whether we like it or not, we knew that the digital death of even one celebrity would draw more attention than the millions of real people suffering and dying from HIV/AIDS every day. It’s a not so subtle statement on what we value in our society, but hopefully it will also be a way for something as fanciful as celebrity tweets to quickly and significantly make a real difference in the world.”
“For the digital death campaign, we asked celebrities to make an actual sacrifice.For them, Twitter and Facebook isn’t just a fun pastime. It’s a serious way to stay connected to fans. Withholding tweets and updates, even for a few days, is significant, but they realized just how much their social networks can create real awareness and immediate action.“
Participating celebrities directed fans to their personal page at www.buylife.org, where their "last tweet & testament" video is posted. From here, fans can either donate directly online or text the first name of the celebrity they wish to support to 90999 in order to donate $10 to KCA.
Digital Death follows on the heels of the launch of KCA’s BUY LIFE initiative, also created by TBWAChiatDay New York.
Keep a Child Alive provides first class AIDS care, support, nutrition and love to children and families affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. Since founded in 2003, Keep a Child Alive has raised $27 million to fund the sites it supports.
