Monthly Peace Challenge: Mad Men

In less than a month, Bloggers for Peace has grown into a movement of almost 100 bloggers. I’ve already been moved to tears a number of times by the powerful posts for peace. At this rate, we will have corporate sponsorship in no time, so we better be prepared.

To help inspire the Bloggers for Peace (B4Peace), we will have a Monthly Peace Challenge. To participate, tag your post with B4Peace or leave a link to it in the comments below. Anyone who completes all twelve Monthly Peace Challenges will receive a Free B4Peace T-shirt.

February is Superbowl month. (For those of you who don’t know about the Superbowl, it is a once-a-year advertising opportunity to reach a huge demographic of American consumers. I think there is a sporting event associated with it as well.) Television advertising spots during the Superbowl cost like a million dollars a second. Next year, we will have a spot in the Superbowl.

This month we are asking you to be Don Draper and construct an advertisement for peace. If you make videos, make a television commercial. When I was a kid, two television commercials changed my life. The first was this Coke commercial.

This commercial showed me what a multicultural world looked like before I’d ever heard the word multicultural. In essence, Coke showed us Martin Luther King’s dream complete with a music soundtrack.

The other commercial that changed my life was the Keep America Beautiful commercial below.

Because of this crying Native American, I have refrained from littering my entire life. Imagine if we could make a commercial that would inspire children to strive for peace for the rest of their lives.

You can also create a simple advertisement, like a slogan for peace. In December 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono launched an international multimedia ad campaign using the slogan “WAR IS OVER If You Want It.” I’d be lucky to be bum fluff on John or Yoko’s derriere, but recent ideas around the power of intention argue that the subconscious does not recognize negatives. So “no war” or “stop war” manifests war. Let’s create a slogan that manifests peace.

If you are a poet or a musician, remember that John Lennon’s “Imagine” was based on poems by Yoko Ono. We challenge you to write a poem or a song that can become the “Imagine” for our generation.

If you are a photographer or artist, how about a piece that we can post on billboards that will promote peace? You can include titling or just let the image stand on its own.

If you are a writer, you could write a short story or screenplay for a short film that can be made and broadcast for peace. Imagine that you have an unlimited budget. Who would you cast? What would be the soundtrack? How about Obi Wan and Darth Vader laying down their lightsabers and hugging while stormtroopers toss daisies on the Death Star?

Most importantly, have fun. Act as if we could afford to hang peace posters around the world. Wait a minute. We can. It is called the internet. A slogan that goes viral is more powerful than any print ad. Imagine Gangnam Style for Peace. “You may say I’m a dreamer,” but we’ve got a direct line into the bedrooms of millions of sleeping activist waiting to be inspired.

TWO CHANCES TO WIN!

To jump start our peace advertising, we are starting in the closet–the water-closet. Cheri from Cherispeak made a great advertisement that is meant to be posted in public restrooms. You can copy this graphic and put 4-6 per printed page, print, cut and carry with you in your purse, pocket, or wallet. Add a little piece of removable adhesive putty and post away.

For every blogger who posts ten of these flyers in a public restrooms, Rarasaur, Kozo, Maddy from 1EarthUnited and at least one other B4Peace blogger will read and comment on your next 5 posts. Just email 10 pictures of the flyer in public bathrooms to cherispeakblog@yahoo.com. Extra points if you stick your flyer next to some juicy graffiti.

Thank you to everyone who has posted, read, thought about, shared, and/or smiled for peace this year.

Related articles

• We Can Make a Difference – Right Here, Right Now (everydaygurus.com)
• PEACE is Possible (strawberryindigo.wordpress.com)
• Monthly Peace Challenge: Acts of Kindness (bodhisattvaintraining.wordpress.com)
• An Artist For Peace (spiritualmysticism.wordpress.com)
• Song of the Week (123oclock4oclockrock.wordpress.com)
• Coca-Cola–I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke (thisisnotadvertising.wordpress.com)
• Open Hearts Everywhere (heartflow2013.wordpress.com)
• Vulture (bluemoonnortheast.blogspot.com)