New Metro Billboard Campaign

Recently, there have been some interesting billboards popping up in metro stations. They are part of a new campaign by Avaaz.org. You may wonder what Avaaz stands for - I know I did. Apparently it means "voice" in many Middle Eastern languages.

This organization states their mission as "a new global web movement . . . to close the gap between the world we have, and the world most people everywhere want."

Their current campaign revolves around closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay. I think that the billboard (pictured below) is very clever. It certainly caught my eye and made me want to look up more about the organization.

Avaaz.org states the purpose of the campaign as follows: "Inspired by sustained support for an end to torture from the world community and a clear majority of Americans, Avaaz.org is launching a metro billboard ad campaign to remind policymakers that torture is illegal, unethical and a top recruiting tool for the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network. "



I think that this campaign is quite thought provoking. But, I'm not sure it is going to work. I doubt politicians will take this movement seriously unless they hear about it overwhelmingly from their constituents. Maybe I'll be surprised. If enough people are like me and are intrigued by the billboards, it could work.