Before “open letters” became synonymous with Miley Cyrus, Sinead O’Connor, and Amanda Palmer, a pair of Boston musicians had much better intentions in mind.
On September 1, Mike Gintz (Hex Map, Clawjob, Clickers) and Jordyn Bonds (Permafav, Polaris Mine, Big Bear) launched a crowd-funding campaign called The Open Letter, a crusade to take out a full-page ad in a globally read newspaper to call out influential leaders on their failure to address climate control.
Though the month-long campaign did not raise enough to meet its original target — the Wall Street Journal — it did raise more than $35,000, which was enough money for a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times. The ad will run this Sunday, November 10.
The intent of the Open Letter is to, according to a presser, hold “the world’s most influential leaders responsible for their inaction on climate change.”
The campaign states: “The Open Letter is addressed to 41 of the most powerful parents in the world – heads of state, editors-in-chief, ultra-wealthy investors, and energy company CEOs – demanding that they use their immense personal influence to act meaningfully on climate now, before their failure to do so irrevocably damages the lives of their own children. The list includes notables such as Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, and Warren Buffett, as well as more behind-the-scenes power brokers such as Rex Tillerson (ExxonMobil) and Gerard Baker (The Wall Street Journal).”
The total amount raised by the Open Letter campaign was $34,853. Placement in the LA Times will bring the letter to roughly 1 million readers.
Though the Open Letter did not disclose how much money it cost to run the LA Times ad, they do state: “The remainder of the money will be donated to the Alliance for Climate Education, a non-profit that teaches and inspires young people to address the looming threat of climate change.”
The Open Letter can be read in full at openletter2013.org — and in Sunday’s LA Times.
Here is the promotional video the duo released just before the September campaign.