What do you think is the world’s most powerful weapon nowadays? A machine gun, a bomb, or a nuclear weapon…guess again, it’s the media! Media is the most unaccountable power and greatest tool known to man. It spreads so fast across the masses, much like a plague or dangerous disease, or an infectious smile, warm hug or kind word…
We all witnessed the somewhat “peaceful revolution” that occurred recently in Egypt on our televisions, Facebook and Twitter accounts. It all started with a video on YouTube or Facebook depicting torture and horrors we’ve grown unaccustomed to come across in our ostensibly modern times.. And thus was the spark, then the avalanche, and the unrelenting tides of the revolution. Through the media, one has the ability to reach millions of minds, souls and hearts within moments; carrying a message across oceans and mountains, making the very ends of the Earth closer than your own backyard! The majority of people in our society, worry more about owning the new Chanel or Hermes bag, or Maserati, than about preserving and honoring the integrity and value of human life.
I have met and spoken with several people over the past year who have made me both astonished and inspired at the same time. People who have made it their personal responsibility to make Jeddah and Saudi Arabia, a better place. Maha Taher for example, is an individual who simply wants to help the poor and under-privileged, by seeking medical care for those who can’t afford itclothes and food to those who need them. She actually arranged for volunteers to clean up the most devastated areas of Jeddah following the January flood.Then there is a company called “Visualizit” who does work for the King Abdulaziz National Dialogue Center among many other government and private entities. Mr. Ayman Jamal, along with his partner Hisham Abbas and several other private investors, believe that people need to really listen and not just hear, “to visualize” change, and see it in their minds; Only then, will they be able to start making that vision a reality. About to celebrate their fifth birthday, they prefer not to be labeled „an advertising agency.
According to Mr. Ayman Jamal, advertising is only a tool, the means to reach the desired end result, whereas, Visualizit is a production house that designs communication which helps change human perception. Mr. Jamal is quite passionate about the work they’re doing for the National Dialogue Center, as the sensitive issues they address concern all of us.
Visualizit has made T.V. ads and billboard campaigns called, „We can live a better life campaign.” In this campaign, they show you the teacher who crushes and demoralizes students instead of encourage them. The man who pushes and shoves to get first in line instead of waiting in the cue and the husband who demands from his wife instead of request kindly…