The KONY2012 campaign aims to make Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, famous for crimes of war, kidnapping, and crimes against humanity (Interpol). According to Jason Russell, Co-Founder of Invisible Children, "Joseph Kony's tactics were and remain brutal. He often forced children to kill their parents or siblings with machetes or blunt tools. He abducted girls to be sex slaves for his officers. He brainwashed and indoctrinated the children with his lies and manipulated them with his claim of spiritual powers (KONY 2012 Video)." KONY 2012 is a campaign designed by Invisible Children. This non-profit claims to make a difference in the following ways:
"In Central Africa, all of our programming is a partnership between Invisible Children and LRA-affected communities. We focus on long-term goals that enable children to take responsibility for their futures and the futures of their countries. Our programs are carefully developed initiatives that address the need for quality education, mentorships, the redevelopment of schools, and financial stability. In areas where the LRA is still active, we focus on civilian protection and rehabilitation. Our work in the United States focuses on advocacy and inspiring America's youth to "do more than just watch." We believe that by uniting our voices we can use the systems, influence, and resources of the United States to expedite an end to the conflict (Invisible Children)."
Specifically, Invisible Children aims to incite a revolution through their social media campaign and their event "Cover the Night-KONY 2012." Their social media campaign is at full force with the use of Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube, amongst other social media sites. This aspect of their campaign exploded with the release of their video "KONY 2012" on Youtube.com on March 6th, 2012. This video documents the atrocities of Joseph Kony, how he must be stopped, and what people in the US can do to help. This is where "Cover the Night" comes into play.
"Cover the Night" is an event that is happening on April 20th, 2012 all over the country and the world. Followers of the KONY 2012 movement are expected to "engage their leaders, serve their communities, and hit the streets (Kony2012)." This event's schedule is as follows:
MONDAY, April 16th: Sign the pledge and share it with your friends
TUESDAY, April 17th: Encourage UN and African Union leaders to follow through on their strategy to arrest Kony and help affected communities
WEDNESDAY, April 18th: Message key world leaders whose support is essential to the plan's success
THURSDAY, April 19th: Ask your head of state to join the effort
FRIDAY, April 20th: Wear your shirt all day and Cover the Night
What does covering the night actually mean? It means that Invisible Children wants people to literally cover all surfaces of all major cities with information about Joseph Kony. In order to do this, followers of the KONY 2012 movement had the opportunity to buy the $30 "Action Kit," which included a bracelet, posters, stickers, a guide, and a t-shirt. Essentially everything that anyone could need to help cover the night with KONY 2012 propaganda was included in this kit. The Invisible Children blog challenges the followers to go above and beyond "Astonish Us. You have until April 20 to line up something huge. Get creative, and use your connections to see what you can safely and legally pull off. Here are some ideas to get you started, but we know you'll think of things that never occurred to us." This movement hopes to incite social action and revolution in order to get the US to help stop Joseph Kony and the LRA. April 20th is the big day that the world will see if the campaign fails or succeeds.
This campaign is interesting and incredibly powerful in multiple ways. The magnitude of this campaign grabbed young adults across the country, immediately inciting support and passion amongst an amazingly huge generation. The "Action Kits" are currently sold out, and people are waiting to cover the night. In this analysis, I will discuss the effective semiotics of their propaganda, the convincing discourse that briefly interpellated an entire generation, and the audience reactions that both supported and deconstructed the campaign.
Before I continue, you might ask, why should you care about this? You should care because a huge group of people came together over one common goal, without doing any research, and began blindly following one organization under the guise of helping people in need. Since the campaign has begun, new lights have begun to shine on KONY 2012, and people aren't too convinced at this point. This analysis goes to show as a warning that well made media and a convincing voice has the potential to create an action and revolution amongst people.