Ketchup

In one of the better examples of real-life brands in Second Life, Ogilvy London has helped Save the Children become the first UK charity to fundraise in an aternate reality with a campaign in Second Life.

Before Christmas, via its Wish List gift range, Save the Children offered supporters the chance to buy a yak for impoverished families in Tibet, providing them with milk, wool and ploughing.  When the supply of yaks ran out, the charity decided to set up a ‘Yak Shack’ in SL, where community members could buy a virtual yak, or simply donate money.  Purchashers of the yaks could milk them, ride them or knit a woolly jumper, with all the proceeds going to Save the Children.  Each yak cost 1,000 Linden dollars (US$3.50).

Kathryn Parsons, channel planner at Ogilvy Advertising, explained: “Save the Children’s ‘Yak Shack’ taps into a growing community of young, creative and tech-savvy individuals.  It is an ideal environment within which to raise awareness, driven by its strong sense of community and shared values.”

I don’t think there’s many people, even those firmly anti-SL, that could argue with either the intention, execution or planning fit behind this activity, and without sounding like a pansy, it does kind of make me feel warm inside!