By David Ng On April 09, 2014 | 0 Comments
Hello Cool World is proud to be a partner for Pink Shirt Day!
For those who don't know - Pink Shirt Day originated in Nova Scotia, where a student was bullied for wearing pink. The friends of the student that was bullied, David Shepherd and Travis Price, distributed pink shirts to grade 9 students who wore them in support of their friend who was bullied. Since then, pink shirt day is celebrated all over the world as a statement against bullying and homophobia.
We love this demonstration of solidarity against bullying!
One of my favorite campaigns that we did a few years ago was called the "Super Power Project" where we used video to help youth tell stories about gender oppression and violence against women. What was interesting, was that we were able to engage with boys about how to be allies to people around them that might be having difficult experiences. While we may not share the same experiences, the great thing about solidarity is that we can still support those around us, and build a community of caring, empathetic, loving people. Pink shirt day is great example of how we can do that!
Visit here for more info!
David Ng is a Hello Cool World veteran with experience going back a decade. David first worked with us when he was just 14 years old as a participant in the youth advisory group for the sexual health education program Condomania. Now an accomplished videographer passionate about the issues of gender and power, he is currently on sabbatical in South Africa while he pursues a Masters in Gender Studies with a focus on international development.
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By David Ng On February 14, 2014 | 0 Comments
Happy Thirteenth Birthday to Hello Cool World! (we're Cool teenagers now!)
We want to join with our friends at the Canadian Federation of Sexual Health, and OptBC to 'Heart Your Parts' on this Valentine's day.
February 14th is always a special day to us because it not only marks our birthday as a company, but also because "LOVE" is such a big part of the work that we do. We've been known for our sexy campaigns in the past,and as we like to say, '
putting safe sex in advertising where it belongs." But we also do some work that's more heart-felt than risque.
We particularly love working with Chee Mamuk (Aboriginal program of the BC CDC), on their sexual health campaigns around HIV.
Last month, we did a photo shoot with a group of six people who are all affected by HIV in some way for a new book that Chee Mamuk is putting together. All the participants talked about how love and support from their communities is so important. One woman who is HIV positive told us about how she was able to get healthier because of her partner, and how his love and commitment - as someone who is HIV negative - was the ultimate support that allowed her to get help and get healthy. We're just working on the layout of this book now, so stay tuned for when it launches.
All of this work reminds us that love is the only way that we can conquer stigma around HIV, and love is the best way we can support those living with HIV. You can also check out a short video we did for Chee Mamuk and the First Nations Health Authority about the
Around the Kitchen Table program.
We're very committed to all our work around sexual health, and harm reduction. Another project with 'heart' that we're working on is the
Toward the Heart Website and e'zine. Check it out! We're looking forward to connecting with more people who are doing sexual health work in our communities. Stay tuned.
Here's to another year of social justice!
By Katherine Dodds On February 04, 2014 | 0 Comments
It's February! And around Hello Cool World you know what that means! Time to show our campaigns some love...
It's no surprise Valentine's day is also our company anniversary, and this year we're a teenager - we turn 13! Every year we're reminded that we founded Hello Cool World because we love what we do.
Sexual Health, Harm Reduction, love and respect for the planet and for indigenous people, promoting heart-felt causes like our #4Eva campaign in honour of Eva Markvoort, and of course our love for people-over-profits through our work with the The Corporation film.
So why not celebrate with us? Everything on our online store is ON SALE.
We even have some Good Clean Love all-natural products (body oils and lube) -- just for your pleasure, and with prices reduced.
Our #4Eva art cards and heart tees also make great valentine gifts. (And February is also heart month, big congrats to Mark Wilson who sent us a photo of him wearing his #4Eva heart shirt while celebrating his one-year transplantiversary last week!
But even if you opt for another gift from our store, all these sales support our campaigns, (which of course you can also donate directly to):
65_RedRoses #4Eva - Right now we're gearing up for April/May #4Eva Legacay campaign.
The Corporation 10th Anniversary Year - In May we will launch our crowd-funding for our 10th Anniversary year to re-build our Corporation and Hello Cool World website systems to create an ongoing legacy for our orgnanizing work with our do-gooder cohorts. Join us for a year of organizing, dialogue, and actions!
Picturing Transformation - We're also offering FREE shipping for our new book Picturing Transformation Nexw-áyantsut, which shows how 10 thousand people saved a rainforest through love, cermony and community.
Katherine Dodds AKA "Kat" is the founder of Good Company Communications and HelloCoolWorld.com. Trained in renegade advertising & branding through her work with Adbusters in the '90s, Kat's early induction into the possibilities of the web-world was inspired by the term hypertext, which she immediately found comforting. She is dedicated to cause-related communication and to the development and use of tools that promote democratic processes.
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By Katherine Dodds On January 16, 2014 | 0 Comments
Ten years ago, on January 16, 2004 was a busy day for us all. That evening, The Corporation launched in Canadian theatres, was screening at Sundance, and was ALSO playing at the World Social Forum in Mumbai.
Ten years later, we are reflecting back on the film, the launches and how exciting it was to connect with so many amazing people across the world. Most importantly we're looking forward to what we can do to create a legacy for the film's message, and the work that still needs to be done. Because frankly, we've never needed to fight back against corporate omnipresence more than we do now. We're not done yet!
Our plan is to spend the next year celebrating The Corporation's successes, while engaging with even more people to reduce corporate harm, to connect the causes we care about, and to take action for people over profits.
Please support us! Buy from our online store or donate to our anniversary campaign.
Tonight in Vancouver we are having as small think tank gathering to brainstorm how we can mark this 10th year. We'll be updating this blog with ideas and content from this event.
By Katherine Dodds On December 11, 2013 | 0 Comments
I didn’t know Riyad Wadia, but I know his brother Roy. And because I’ve seen Roy in action, I know Riyad must have been someone very wonderful.
On November 30, ten years ago, Riyad Wadia, India’s first openly gay filmmaker and a behind-the-scenes gay activist died of AIDS. It was two years later when I met his brother Roy who was working at the BCCDC when he accompanied us on a trip to Kitamaat Village with Chee Mamuk (Aboriginal program of the BC CDC) to make a short film about STIs and HIV with youth from the Haisla Nation. Riyad moved Roy to do this kind of health advoacy work, and it’s an honour to his memory that Roy is so dedicated to this cause. And while Kitamaat Village was a far cry from the world of Bollywood celebrity that Roy and his brother Riyad knew, taking the creative approach to health promotion came naturally to Roy.
Roy’s tribute to Riyad, was included by Denise Ryan in the recent Vancouver Sun’s series on the HIV/AIDS epidemic to mark this December’s 25th anniversary of World AIDS Day and Month.
Roy writes: “Riyad was a beautiful soul, loving and giving, missed to this day not only by our mother and myself, but by literally hundreds of people around the world who were lucky enough to know him.” Describing the irony of the fact that while Riyad helped many HIV-positive people get discreet and top-notch medical advice about HIV as well as access to medication, he himself never took any medication for the entire seven-plus years after his diagnosis, Roy wonders “Was it deep-seated self-stigma that stopped him from taking care of his own health especially in a day and age when medication was easily available and all the more when India’s leading generic drug manufacturer, Cipla, run by a family friend, would have provided him ARV free of cost? I still struggle to figure out what the true reason was.”
For those of us who work in health promotion within already marginalized populations, the reality is poignant: stigma can be deadly. The topic of the film made by the Haisla youth was on rumours and how they can travel quickly, like STIs can, in a small community. And like STIs, rumours can be prevented.
Their film “Stand True” was light hearted and funny, but the night of its ‘world premiere” celebration, when it screened in front of 200 Community members in the Kitamaat Village Rec Centre, invited guest, Charlotte Brooks got up to speak. I witnessed the group of young filmmakers visibly transform. Charlotte talked about how their film’s theme of rumours touched on something so important, and she shared what living with HIV has been like for her, how rumours and stigma caused so much pain to her and to her family. Suddenly those youth knew that they had not only done something cool, they had done something important with their short film. Life-changing even.
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