The United Nations program, UNICEF, has recently launched a new campaign called #IMAGINE. The John Lennon-inspired project, named after his popular 1971 song “Imagine,” was created with the intention to raise money for the organization; one that strives to bring awareness to the many challenges faced by children around the world. The campaign was presented to the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week by the late Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono, Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA, as well as Hugh Jackman. Their campaign presentation was particularly special because it took place on the 25th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The campaign had a rather successful launch, and included a video of the Lennon song after which the campaign is named featuring collaboration with more than 100 artists, musicians, athletes, celebrities, choirs, and actors. American Idol winner Adam Lambert, Courtney Cox, Lance Bass of NSYNC, as well as pop singer Katy Perry are just a few of the more well known artists featured in the video.
The campaign strives to make this musical experience that much more personal with the inclusion of a mobile app produced by TouchCast, which allows those who use it to record their own versions of “Imagine.” Eventually, these covers will be turned into a multilingual remix of the song, done by David Guetta, and will include both established music artists and UN ambassadors. Guetta recently made a statement highlighting his positive outlook on the project, stating, “I’m really excited to be working with UNICEF on this incredible new [campaign]. Our ‘world’ version of ‘Imagine’ will be like no other – I am proud to be a part of this collaboration. We have to get the word out that every voice counts and every child counts, too.”
All material, both vocals and video footage, submitted via the app will also have a chance to be featured in a music video for the song, which is set to debut sometime around New Year’s. The dynamic app can also be utilized to record messages of what the user envisions to be a better world for children. To share recordings and bring awareness to the cause, participants are encouraged to use the hashtags #EVERYVOICECOUNTS and, of course, #IMAGINE.
When people donate to UNICEF, all funds will go to their programs that provide immunizations and general health care, food and clean water, and education, amongst other necessary resources, to kids in over 150 countries. Recently, Yoko Ono made a statement about #IMAGINE, stating, “A dream you dream alone may be a dream, but a dream two people dream together is a reality.” To download the TouchCast app visit the #IMAGINE website.