Economic Inequality
At Fandom Forward, we are working to end economic inequality and build a more just and equal world. Here are some of our campaigns:
Hunger is Not a Game (2012)
Hunger is Not a Game debuted as part of Fandom Forward’s Imagine Better Project. This campaign used the midnight release of The Hunger Games movie, as well as the buzz leading up to this event, in order to start a conversation about global food insecurity.
This campaign launched at the beginning of March 2012 in partnership with Oxfam and targeting two main objectives. The first was, in partnership with Oxfam's GROW campaign, to address the five major failings in the system concerning food security. The second was to "send a silver parachute" by organizing local food drives in the month of March and at midnight releases of The Hunger Games. These local and global efforts were supported by engaging fans online with the hashtag #notagame to raise awareness of food insecurity and gather support for the cause.
This campaign was met with a response from Lionsgate on March 22nd requesting Oxfam to immediately remove any mention of Hunger is Not a Game due to intellectual property infringements. On Friday, March 23rd, Hunger Games fan Holly McCready created a Change.org petition supporting the campaign which has garnered over 18,000 signatures. Prominent people such as film director and producer Judd Apatow and activist Eli Pariser tweeted on behalf of fans, strengthening online support. Within seven hours, Lionsgate backed off and suggested an interest in forming partnerships with fan activists for future films.
Hunger is Not A Game mobilized volunteers to attend hundreds of screenings around the country, asking fans to sign Oxfam's petition to reform food aid in the US Farm Bill, which gained over 6300 new supporters over this campaign. In addition, over 2000 items were donated to food banks in local communities. This campaign also reached a wide audience, causing Fandom Forward to be featured in the New York times not only once, but twice. Articles also appeared in the LA Times, The Huffington Post, and more.
Odds In Our Favor 1.0 (2013)
Fandom Forward launched the Odds In Our Favor campaign in November 2013 by releasing a viral video titled ‘The Hunger Games Are Real’. This was done to coincide with the release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in cinemas. The dystopian video featured a compelling quote from the book, “From now on, your job is to be a distraction - so people forget what the real problems are”, and then launched into a discussion of all the ways that the issue in the film are actually issues in real life as well. The main issues raised were lack of unions, unemployment, food insecurity, racial divides, and increasing income inequality.
The video encouraged viewers to join the resistance and raise the iconic three finger salute in a selfie and co-opt the official marketing campaign for the film. Fans and activists around the world shares images of themselves and their friends standing up against income inequality. High profile supporters included US Senator Elizabeth Warren and head of the AFL-CIO Richard Trumka.
The campaign also included the website OddsInOurFavor.org and the Tumblr blog We Are The Districts. The Tumblr was a collaborative blog where anyone could submit content relating to the so called twelve districts of economic inequality, which included homelessness, health care access, voting access, unemployment, and more. Toolkits were available so that fans could organize events in their local communities to fight back against these issues.
Odds In Our Favor 2.0 (2014)
For the release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 in 2014 Fandom Forward re-launched the Odds In Our Favor campaign. This time Fandom Forward urged fans to share their own stories about economic inequality using the hashtag #myhungergames. Thousands of tweets were generated where people shared personal stories relating to poverty, unemployment, mental health, and more.
Another element of the campaign was partnering with Fight for $15 where Fandom Forward supported fast food workers on strike for a living wage. The strike took place on December 4, 2014 and workers around the nation used the symbolic three-fingered salute to highlight their very real struggle for fair working conditions.
Fandom Forward also recruited fan activists by asking them to join their District 13. This was the ‘street team’ which received regular email and calls to action. In 2014 over 2000 people signed up. This group was given specific actions to take and helped publicize the campaign as a whole.
Odds In Our Favor 3.0 (2015)
The third iteration of the Odds In Our Favor campaign launched in October 2015 and built on the momentum created by the previous two. The We Are The Districts Tumblr was rebranded as the #MyHungerGames blog where fans continued to share their own stories of real life economic inequality. District 13 was reactivated and used to encourage actions throughout the campaign and on the night of the movie’s theatrical release.
The campaign adapted to address current issues. One big area was the announced Hunger Games theme park. Fandom Forward created their own theme park tickets for fans to print and distribute in order to highlight how economic inequality is a real problem. European Fandom Forward chapters also released a toolkit specifically aimed at addressing the Syrian Refugee crisis unfolding on the continent, titled All Districts Welcome.
Fandom Forward worked with several key partners under the umbrella term Coalition of Rebels. These partners included Project UROK, Oxfam, Campaign for Youth Justice, STAND, and many more. The campaign used an online scavenger hunt to create an interactive and fun way for fans to explore the issues and the partners but without trivializing the content.
Dark Lord Waldemart (2006)
The Dark Lord Waldemart campaign parallels the Harry Potter series: The evil Lord Waldemart killed Harry's parents’ business. Now Harry must stop him in his attempt to torture House Elves and suck the magic from local communities. Much like Harry Potter would opt to shop at a store that treats house elves fairly, the campaign teaches young adults to shop at stores that treat workers fairly.
Part one of the video series has been viewed more than 2.4 million times! Fandom Forward and Wal*Mart Watch partnered again to release a second Dark Lord Waldemart video on June 29, 2007.