Cine Las Americas and LatinWorks Are Laughing All the Way to the Bank
Faux heist ad campaign is trying to raise $50,000
By Monica Riese, 1:09PM, Wed. Jan. 15, 2014
We know you've seen your fair share of standard Indiegogo and Kickstarter campaigns – in part because we showcase a new one each week. But how do organizations get pledgers' attention when everyone wants your money?
Cine Las Americas partnered with the team at local ad agency LatinWorks to produce a short film (appropriately shot in both English and Spanish) that ought to snag your eye.
As clients at a big, fancy bank go through their days – businesspeople, the elderly, the obligatory pregnant woman – one patron in particular is signing off on receipt of a briefcase full of $50,000 for Cine Las Americas' ongoing programming and operations costs. Just when he finishes crossing t's and dotting i's, a team of masked robbers breaks in and holds the bank hostage. With a gun to our hero's head, the narrative pauses and asks you to help donate to get that $50,000 back.
(Note: Cine Las Americas hasn't actually been robbed, as best we know, but it sure adds a level of pressure to crowdfunding that we haven't seen before.)
There are nine possible endings for the employees and customers at the bank, and how much you donate – or don't – determines how the story ends for our protagonist. Will you get menacing threats from the robber or a slow clap and a cheer from the rest of the gang?
There's only one way to find out. Play along at www.savecinelasamericas.org.
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Austin Sanders, May 7, 2018
Cine las Americas, crowdfunding, LatinWorks, advertising, bank robbery