The great British obsession of talking about the weather paid off for social care charity Age UK, as they emerged top of the mainstream media rankings in Gorkana’s Charity Barometer for February 2012.
It wasn’t just small talk they were making. As temperatures plummeted across the UK, the Met Office raised fears for the old and infirm, issuing its first country-wide Level 3 Cold Weather alert in association with Age UK. The warnings were carried across both national and regional media outlets, contributing to a whopping 3,681 articles mentioning for the charity in our benchmarking report, which ranks the media profile of UK charities month to month. Cancer Research UK (3,568 articles) and Amnesty International (2,508 articles) came second and third respectively.
The cold weather story garnered a large share of voice for Age UK and also helped emphasise its position as the go-to charity for elderly care. Additionally, director Michelle Mitchell’s comments saw good-pick up in the media. “We want older people to be able to enjoy the winter and, most importantly of all, stay well,” she said.
Great work Age UK. Just for fun, have you seen their catchy ‘Thank You’ TV ad, which celebrates the golden years to the tune of ‘Chicken Payback’ by The Bees? Whatever they’re having, I want some too.
Speaking of ads, animal charity PETA extolled the benefits of being vegan in theirs, and the resulting controversy propelled them to first place in our social media rankings. They were mentioned 52,820 times in online conversation, well ahead of Greenpeace (48,558 mentions) and Comic Relief (39,613 mentions). If you haven’t seen their ‘Boyfriend went vegan’ viral (part of their ‘Boyfriend Went Vegan and Knocked the Bottom Out of Me (BWVAKTBOOM)’ campaign) here it is – with two million views and counting.
Naturally, this ruffled some feathers. Among the angry hordes were the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, who posted this on their Twitter feed:
The Guardian Online weighed in too, organising an interesting online debate about whether the charity had again gone overboard with its shock tactics. Setting the stage for a barrage of readers’ comments, journalist Alex Clark noted: “It strikes me that what they’re utilising – particularly in ads like this that are designed to go viral – is the tendency for something to create a moment of mass outrage and debate, and shoot whoever’s done the outraging to the top of the agenda. The problem is that the debate ends up being about the ad and not the issue. Do you think it’s worth it?”
In its defence, Peta’s associate director of campaigns and outreach Lindsay Rajit claimed “the underlying message is a helpful one”. “Going vegan can lead to an increase in energy and sexual stamina. More than anything is a humorous spot and both men and women are getting it.”
So there you have it, sex and cold weather – two vastly different things that drove coverage for our top charities this month. Who would have thunk it! Here’s the rest of the winner’s table for February 2012:
Mainstream media:
1. Age UK (3,681 articles)
2. Cancer Research UK (3,568 articles)
3. Amnesty International (2,508 articles)
4. National Trust (2,424 articles)
5. British Red Cross (2,396 articles)
Social media:
1. PETA (52,280 mentions)
2. Greenpeace (48,558 mentions)
3. Comic Relief (39,613 mentions)
4. UNICEF (34,161 mentions)
5. Oxfam (25,371mentions)
Gorkana’s monthly Charity Barometer allows charities to benchmark themselves against competitors within their sector. For more information, please e-mail govandngo@btsdev2.co.uk/gorkana/metrica
