Red Cross France & Ogilvy Paris Launch the Not Generated by AI Pro Bono Campaign

Apr. 28, 2023

When humanitarian Association, Red Cross, is on the frontline, daily, and, far too often, witnessing disturbing and shocking events of human suffering BUT whose very photographs of these events are being over-shadowed by seemingly as shocking and disturbing fake images generated by Artificial Intelligence, it was time to break through the proliferation of propaganda that’s senselessly monopolizing the public’s attention.

In recent weeks, people have been caught up in the storm of AI generated fake imagery that’s taken to the internet and gone viral in disbelief as it passes the feeds of millions, cementing doubt and discontent. The Red Cross of France decided to act to remind all that while their attention is caught up in fake news, there are real images of emergency situations capturing what the volunteers of the Red Cross endure every day.  It’s on these real images, where their attention is better used.

The pro-bono campaign conceived by Ogilvy Paris, NOT GENERATED BY AI, calls attention to these real images of the Red Cross taken from the field that could just as easily been mistaken for a fake, generated by AI. To make the prompts realistic as much as possible, Ogilvy Paris leveraged the latest Midjourney feature, Describe, that can write prompts of real images. 

Sadly, however, these disturbing visuals by the Red Cross are real. Depicting true humanitarian, emergency events.

The pro-bono campaign will be launched in two waves starting April 22 on social networks, in magazines, and out-of-home, thanks to the support of JCDecaux, d’Exterion Media, Essence Mediacom and magazine titles such as Society or l’Epatant.

David Raichman Executive Creative Director Ogilvy Paris said:

"Since nearly a year, AI image generators have become democratized, and, as such, there’s an increasing number of evermore realistic and shocking, but fake, images being created. This phenomenon, sadly, strips away at the impact and credibility of real photography.  It’s for this reason, that we want to see this campaign touch as many people as possible to drive home the importance of preserving the impact of real photography in its service to big causes."

 

Laurent Amiand, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, French Red Cross said:

"Today we are faced with an increasing number of crises of all kinds, impacting society as a whole. In addition to these tensions, which never seem to end, we must contend with increasingly frequent battles to combat fake news which, with the advent of AI, sometimes seem almost credible. This campaign, which interacts with current events, allows us to remind people that our teams in the field are in direct contact with reality, and it invites as many people as possible to watch and learn about the real situations that affect the most vulnerable."