Case Study

Assignment:

Celebrate Pope Francis’s first official visit to the United States with a fun, light-hearted welcome campaign that raises awareness for Missio, a new app from The Pontifical Mission Societies (the Vatican’s U.S. organization for global mission work) that allows people to make change around the world.

The Solution:

JOKE WITH THE POPE, a campaign that invites people of all faiths to “donate” their favorite joke to benefit a humanitarian cause.

The campaign was spearheaded by The Pontifical Mission Societies, who brought us in to drive the strategy, bring the content to life, and grow this offbeat idea into a worldwide movement.

JOKE WITH THE POPE was met with incredible media attention, including an exclusive relationship with Mashable and press coverage in USA Today, CNN.com, and hundreds of other outlets.

Celebrities joined in the fun, starting with Bill Murray, who was named the Honorary Advisor for Pontifical Comedy as part of the campaign. Other comedians, including Conan O’BrienJimmy Fallon and George Lopez donated jokes and encouraged their fans to participate.

For added fun and engagement, we created a “Pope Culture Joke Generator,” which mashed up the Pontiff with funny pop culture references to create completely original jokes.

After the Pope’s visit, ten thousand dollars were donated to each of the three Missio causes, and all participants were encouraged to download the Missio app to continue spreading joy and doing good around the world.

The Results:

This effort generated thousands of grassroots jokes and millions of impressions about Missio’s important causes. More importantly, the man himself, Pope Francis, blessed this endeavor. “I invite you to share your joy with a laugh!” he said in a press release about the campaign.