#loveexists

Background

These are unprecedented times in which people in Brazil, as in many other countries, have been asked to stay at home. The problem is, millions of people don’t actually have a home to stay in.

Idea

To support the 40 million homeless people in Brazil, AKQA and Coala.lab brought together two iconic singers, Criolo and Milton Nascimento, and asked them to reinterpret the song “Love doesn’t exist in SP (São Paulo)”.

The video was projected onto the sides of high-rise buildings while outdoor speakers played the music. Thus people in the safety of their homes were encouraged to go to the windows and support the cause at existeamor.com/doe, proving the lyrics wrong – because, actually, love exists.

Results

Within five days donations at the crowdfunding site existeamor.com had surpassed the amounts it normally took months to raise. The money has been deployed to NGOs across the country for meals, clothing, blankets, hygiene kits, masks and gel alcohol to thousands of the most vulnerable members of Brazilian society.

Our Thoughts

It’s (relatively) easy to get an emotional response from people at the moment. Beautiful music, sad for preference, shots of empty streets. What this does is get people to do something. In getting them to go to their windows it makes them a part of a community. Even in isolation we do not need to be cut off from the world.