Not All 'Likes' Are Created Equal

DDB New York Creates "I Care" Button to Show Support for Social Causes

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Apr 09, 2012, 11:56 ET

NEW YORK, April 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- DDB New York has launched the "I Care" button, the product of a creative pro bono project that caters to the impassioned discussions about global issues across social networks. Facebook's 'Like' button, intended to show interest in a status update or post, can often seem inappropriate when applied to tragic current events or controversial social causes. Conversely, the "I Care" button can be embedded alongside the "Like" button as an alternate expression of engagement with a given topic.

"The "I Care" button seeks to serve as an appropriate complement to the "Like" button and can be easily leveraged by individuals and organizations alike to exhibit and inspire social activism," explains Matt Eastwood, Chief Creative Officer of DDB New York. "Now people will be able to do more with a button than just "Like" something. They'll be able to say 'I care' about important topics ranging from child labor laws, to natural disasters, to world poverty, to name a few."

The "I Care" button can be implemented throughout websites for people to engage with the content and express their attention to, association with, or compassion for a given cause or issue to their broader social network. Moreover, DDB New York has built a website that aggregates all of the "I Care" trending topics in a centralized location, serving as a clear indication of what causes are eliciting the most support in real time (http://www.icare-movement.com/).

The code for the "I Care" button will be available to websites to embed alongside their content. By clicking on the "I Care" button, Facebook users can link it to their profile pages to appear the same way a "like" would. The world's first "I Care" button is now live at MTV Voices, an international platform that highlights socially positive and inspirational content produced by a select team of global correspondents, international and local music artists and MTV's audience: http://voices.mtv.co.uk/2012/04/selfassured/.

Adds Eastwood, "As a network, DDB has long espoused the philosophy, put forth by our founder, Bill Bernbach, that Creativity can change the world for the better and we believe that the "I Care" button perfectly exemplifies this notion. This was an unsolicited project that we felt represented an opportunity to fill a void in the online social community and we are greatly looking forward to seeing the "I Care" button proliferated and, ideally, convert awareness and engagement into action."

About DDB

DDB Worldwide Communications Group Inc (www.ddb.com) ranks among the top five consolidated advertising and marketing services global networks, according to Advertising Age. DDB emphasizes Social Creativity to grow the value and influence of brands around the world by creating ideas that people want to play with, participate in and pass along. The agency is consistently one of the most awarded at the Cannes Festival of Creativity and was recognized by The Gunn Report as one of the Top 3 Global Networks for 10 of the last 12 years. DDB was also recently named the Spikes Asia Network of the Year for the second consecutive year and the Eurobest Network of the Year for the third consecutive year. DDB Worldwide is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) and consists of more than 200 offices in over 90 countries.

Contact

Jeff Swystun: 212-415-2186
Elena Weinstein: 212-415-2191

SOURCE DDB Worldwide