Johnson & Johnson has launched a global campaign asking people to “Take the #EyePledge” in an effort to raise awareness of the importance of eye exams and raise money for nonprofit Sight for Kids.

The campaign is asking consumers to take a selfie of their eye and post it through the Donate a Photo mobile application as well as promise to get their eyes tested. Johnson & Johnson will donate $1 for every photo uploaded – up to $30,000 – to Sight for Kids to help provide eye exams to needy children.

“Donate a Photo, the new free app from Johnson & Johnson was launched in April of this year as a way to connect the company, our non-profit partners and individuals around the shared desire to do good,” said Gary Esterow, senior director of public relations at Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, New Brunswick, NJ.

“The concept behind the app was a simple one, taking an action people do every day, and turning it into a way to do good,” he said. “Through the app individuals can interact with the company in supporting the causes they care about, both through raising money, and by raising awareness for the causes when they share their photos through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

“Selfies are rapidly becoming a popular genre of pictures for people of all ages. We felt this was a fun and visually appealing way to engage people on this subject and deliver a call to action to get their eyes tested.”

Eye selfies
Johnson & Johnson is running the #EyePledge campaign in honor of World Sight Day on Oct. 10. The campaign supports the global call-to-action to “Get Your Eyes Tested” by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, coordinator of World Sight Day.

Consumers can download the Donate a Photo app for free in Apple’s App Store or Google Play.

Then they can select the Sight for Kids cause and upload a picture of their eye. Consumers can upload one photo a day towards the charity.

Consumers can also post an eye selfie on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #EyePledge.

Once consumers post a photo, they are asked to promise to get their own eyes checked as well.

For every photo uploaded via the Donate a Photo app, Johnson & Johnson will donate $1 to Sight for Kids, which is a partner program of JJVCI and Lions Clubs International. The money will go towards providing eye exams for needy children.

There is also an option to give a monetary donation within the site.

Mobile good
Sight for Kids has provided free vision screenings to more than 17 million children in Asia Pacific since 2002.

According to the World Health Organization, around 285 million people worldwide are visually impaired, and 80 percent of this impairment can be avoided or corrected with glasses, contact lenses or surgery.

Another nonprofit called The Lunchbox Fund created a similar app that used photos to raise money and awareness. The app, Feedie, lets consumers share photos of meals in exchange for donating food to orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa (see story).

“Photos are emotionally compelling, often telling a visual story from the point of view of the participant,” said Cassie Bair, vice president of marketing for Mobile Accord, Inc., Denver, CO.

Ms. Bair is not affiliated with Johnson & Johnson. She commented based on her expertise on the subject.

“People can easily snap and share photos right from their phone, driving easy engagement with minimal road blocks for people to participate in this campaign,” she said. “Plus photos are highly visual, which is an ideal campaign component for a sight-based cause marketing campaign.

“If people are already using tools in the app, such as when posting photos, they are already engaged and emotionally involved with the cause. It’s an easy leap to move from posting a photo to making a donation and provides instant gratification that they could do something else to make a difference in this campaign.”

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York