MTV Deploys DDB 'I Care' Button for Social Causes

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DDB New York has introduced an "I Care" button that's designed to create more straightforward user expression regarding complex issues, working via Facebook and other social platforms.

In an email to ClickZ, DDB said the I Care effort is an answer to brands that want to rally around social causes but feel Facebook's ubiquitous "like" button can manifest confusing sentiment. The ad agency used the Kony 2012 movement as an example of a recent cause where "liking" posts may not send the clearest message.

MTV is the first brand to deploy DDB's I Care button, utilizing it via the brand's Voices online section promoting self-confidence. The button appears alongside digital toggles for Facebook Like, Twitter Tweet, and Google +1. Viewers who click I Care on MTV's pages are then asked to share it with their Facebook friends, "to raise awareness."

Anyone - not just DDB clients - can embed the I Care button on a website. Facebook began allowing developers to create action verbs, or alternatives to "likes," in January.

DDB's I Care button aligns with the firm's pro bono work in early spring. On March 22, the agency unveiled "Water Is Life", an offline interactive project in New York City addressing drinkable water problems and timed with World Water Day.