REMEMBRANCE Day has gone digital this year. The Royal British Region is at work in social networking site Facebook where online users are being offered virtual poppies.
Stuart Gendall, Director of Corporate Communications for the Legion, says the new Facebook application contributes to the charity’s remit of raising awareness of the ongoing relevance of Remembrance and its welfare work for younger serving and ex-Service people.
“Social networking websites such as Facebook present us with an invaluable opportunity to reach a whole new generation of supporters.
“We hope that Facebook users can send to and receive poppies from all of their friends in the next fortnight and help us reach our target of 1,011,011 poppies distributed by 11am on 11 November when the nation pauses for the Two Minute Silence.”
And for those who prefer their poppy on the move, there’s a mobile phone download too. Available at Max Box kiosks, the phone screen saver costs £1.50.
While some traditionalists may see this digitisation as fad or a gimmick, and choose to wear the traditional paper variety with pride this year, it’s perhaps worth considering that these moves can engage a whole new younger audience in one our most poignant commemorations.
In fact the exact same age group currently fighting, and too often giving their lives, in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Useful links:
• You can add the poppy application, designed and developed by London marketing firm The Business Partnership, to your Facebook profile here.
• Click here to view Channel M’s video report on digital poppies.
• Visit the Max Box website for locations of the kiosk for mobile poppy wallpaper.
Dim Sum Digital 