VCU Brandcenter and friends ask you to be STILLforJAPAN

Exactly four months ago today, the nation of Japan was rocked by a devastating earthquake and tsunami that left thousands dead, many times more displaced, and untold damage to the country’s infrastructure. And while this traumatic event has faded from the headlines, a new campaign envisioned by students and friends of the VCU Brandcenter launches today, encouraging people the world over to be STILLforJAPAN.

At 1:00PM this afternoon, the campaign will be officially launched in New York’s Times Square in front of the Spectracolor Board, where onlookers will be asked to observe a “moment of stillness.” Those unable to be there are encouraged to visit the website and donate stillness from in front of their computers. The initial goal is to reach 180,000 moments of stillness, representing the number of people either lost, or displaced by the tragedy. The second more lofter goal is 1,031,704 which represents the population of Sendai, the nearest major city to the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The ultimate goal and hope is to stage a “worldwide moment of stillness” on March 11th, 2012, on the first anniversary of the disaster.

This effort, which will also include the above commercial and a short documentary to be aired in Japan, would not be possible without the dedication of Kaede Seville of Kaede Media, recent VCU grads Sarah Kraus and Joe Hall, and first year students Ernesto Campabadal, Nick Maschmeyer, Lydia White, Lonnie Elliott, Paul Davis, Andrew Quay, Ernesto Campabala, Jake Mitchell, Tedd Wood, and Amy Matheu. Kudos to your work, and we know the ihaveanidea community will spread the word to meet and surpass your goals.