How free media can make you stupid

Yesterday, we looked at how Stupid Advertising helped crush One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). Unfortunately Stupid Ads weren't the only problem they faced.

As part of their Give One Get One campaign last fall, OLPC was the happy recipient of as much as $15 million worth of donated media, including TV, print, and billboards.

Donated media can be fine, but here's a precaution: Don't take something free that you wouldn't pay for.

When someone gives away free media, it's possible they're being truly philanthropic and donating something of value. More likely, though, they're unloading "garbage" on you -- media they haven't been able to sell because it has little or no value in the marketplace.

It does you more harm than good to accept donations of garbage.

It's easy to say, Heck, what's the harm in it? Even if it performs terribly and all we get are a few responses, those responses are gravy, right?

Not quite.

First, there's the opportunity cost. Every moment you spend creating and managing campaigns for free media is a moment you're not working on something that might actually get you somewhere.

I don't know too many nonprofit fundraisers who have extra time on their hands.

(There's also some kind of corollary to Murphy's Law that shows how campaigns created for free media have an abnormal level of complications and problems.)

The other downside: Free media breeds stupidity.

Exhibit A: Billboards for OLPC's Give One Get One campaign. I don't know how much of the free media bonanza consisted of these billboards, but these are everywhere in Seattle. (The fact that they're still here, many weeks after the campaign is over, is a good indication that these are excess inventory, not valuable advertising space.) Here's one in my neighborhood:

Signs of Stupidity on this billboard:

• The headline is above the image. Basic design knowledge tells us that this virtually guarantees that the headline won't be read by most viewers.
• Not that much is lost if nobody reads that headline. It's at best an oblique, abstract call to action.
• What exactly is this an image of? A kid with a laptop on her head? And what does that communicate? It's a cute image that communicates neither a need for laptops, or what happens if you do give a laptop. (I'm pretty sure when kids get their laptops they don't schlep them around on their heads. They probably use them as they're intended to be used.)
• Finally, the response option is pretty much invisible. Can you see it? It's the tiny type in the lower right corner.

I don't know who designed this billboard. Maybe the same award-winning jokers who did the John Lennon TV spot. Whoever did it, it's not competent response advertising. It's a Stupid Ad.

(And frankly, even when done well, billboards aren't a very effective response medium.)

So next time you're offered free media -- whether it's print ad space, broadcast, outdoor, or anything else -- look at it with a jaded, cynical eye. If you find it's something you'd never buy, don't take it for free.

You shouldn't do things that don't work just because it's affordable to do so.

Technorati Tags: advertising, billboards

Comments

[Nicole Camboni]

I'm in Chicago and just saw one of these advertisements at a bus stop downtown this morning!

[Rufus]

Most times, free is the most expensive price you can pay! I wish most organizations would look at it in the same light you illustrated here.

Don't take something free that you wouldn't pay for is a good maxim to live by. The corollary is never do something for free that has value. The minute you do, you place the value at $0.00.

[Elliot Harmon]

I'm wondering if there's a simpler problem implicit in both of your criticisms: OLPC's hook isn't about helping children. It's about getting a cool gadget. Without reading any of the words, I look at that ad and I think it's an ad for a kids' toy sale.

OLPC's explanation that competition from "similar organizations" caused the dip in donations seems a little disingenuous to me. I'd venture a guess that the real competition was from similarly sized and priced laptops.