This project was created to increase awareness of the United Nations’ various initiatives, while at the same time recruiting contributors and supporters. And, with a minimal budget, traditional advertising was out of the question. The result: Unselfish status updates.The strategy was to use social media to engage people by letting them support causes they cared for, but we also needed a way of spreading the message. The idea was simple: get people to pay for something that is absolutely free, while at the same time getting them to do our advertising for us.

The insight behind this is that people use status updates on Facebook as a form of social currency. We boast about how great we are in every aspect of life. What if we could harness this narcissism and use it for a greater good?The solution: "Buy an unselfish status update." Starting from €2, users could buy status updates talking about how they cleared mines in Congo, or handed out school lunches in Bangladesh etc.The campaign was a huge success. Not only did thousands of people pay to spread UNA Sweden’s message, the number of supporters on Facebook also increased by 470%.

We got people to pay for something that is absolutely free – their status on Facebook.Through The UNA Sweden fan page you purchased an "Unselfish status" which was published as a regular status update on your profile. The different statuses you got to choose from only cost 2 EURO and you could pay by text message, credit card or through your Internet bank.For example, if you choose to support a human rights project in Congo your status will be updated as follows: John Knight is teaching former child soldiers to read and write in Bukavu, Congo.

The campaign was an instant success, with thousands of people spreading the word to hundreds of thousands friends. All of a sudden we had people not only paying for something that is normally free, but also paying to do our advertising for us. UNA Sweden recruited lots of new supporters: the increase in Facebook fans was a staggering 470%. The campaign also got recognition in national media broadcasts.