How Angry Butterfly Made Jeff Bezos Fundraise for a Toronto Community Centre
Most gamers have probably used Twitch (one of the world’s largest video game live-streaming services) at least once. As such, those users are likely aware of the term Twitch Prime - a free, monthly $3.50 for all owners of Amazon Prime, which can be donated to any streamer on the platform.
However, while gamers might be aware of these benefits, the majority of Amazon Prime users don’t even know the feature exists. This means potential money goes unused month after month - reverting right back to Amazon, and by extension, Jeff Bezos’ pockets. It’s because of this that Toronto community centre, the Jane/Finch Centre spotted a unique fundraising opportunity. Partnering with Angry Butterfly, the two posed a simple invitation to Amazon Prime holders. Rather than find a random person to give a Twitch Prime subscription to, instead, why not give it to a charitable cause?
Cue the launch of the JFC’s very own Twitch stream and channel. Representing the first ever 100% Amazon-funded community fundraiser, this campaign - named ‘Bill it to Bezos’ - serves as an ongoing way for Prime owners to donate Jeff Bezos’ money right out from under his billionaire nose - all while doing so in entirely legal fashion.
As of now, ‘Bill it to Bezos’ has launched with videos on Twitch, Youtube and other social platforms, as well as with the unveiling of a campaign microsite.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with the team from Angry Butterfly, as well as JFC’s manager of strategic development, Amadeo Ventura, to discuss how this campaign was brought to life.
LBB> Coming up with the idea to use Twitch Prime subscriptions as a way to support a community centre is a brilliant idea. What was the brief like?
Angry Butterfly> The brief was to create a fundraising campaign for the Jane/Finch Centre (JFC) – and since it’s such a great cause, we started our conceptual phase by thinking about ways to raise money directly, rather than a focus on awareness first.
Amadeo> The Jane/Finch Centre had the idea of using Twitch as a fundraising tool, but did not have a strategy on how to activate it, besides organising a streaming marathon with the youth we serve. At our first meeting with Angry Butterfly, we explored various ideas and Twitch was brought up by one of the Angry Butterfly team members. A spark was lit and Angry Butterfly did their research and discovered the Twitch Prime subscription loophole.
LBB> How did the idea to ‘hack’ Twitch Prime subscriptions come about? Did you even know it was a feasible idea?
Angry Butterfly> When the team came up with the idea of using the Twitch/Amazon Prime donation mechanism, we felt it would not only be a unique way of doing fundraising, but that we could tell a compelling story given who the Amazon founder is. Right now, there’s a lot of discussion about income inequality and whether it’s okay that some people have billions of dollars in the bank while so much of the population is barely able to afford the cost of living. We thought that by being part of the discussion in a provocative way, the JFC might find its way into more conversations and therefore be able to educate more people about the amazing work they do.
To answer the second part of the question, we knew it was a feasible way for Twitch subscribers to give money to streamers, but we didn’t know exactly how it could be executed in a way that would get the money from Prime to the JFC.
LBB> According to the press release, when the ‘Bill It to Bezos’ idea was presented to Jane/Finch Centre, they were both excited and nervous. Can you tell us more about this interaction and exchange? What was the pitching session like?
Angry Butterfly> Given that the JFC had talked about using Twitch as a way to reach more people (and a younger demographic), they were receptive to the idea. They also liked how provocative it was, and the function of raising money directly. However, their biggest concern was that we make it crystal clear that Amazon was not actually part of the campaign.
Amadeo> When Angry Butterfly presented the idea, we had to wrap our heads around the concept and had many questions. Right off the bat, we knew that this was an innovative idea worth pursuing - one that stayed true to what the JFC and the community we represent stand for.
LBB> As many of Twitch’s current users are younger people, did you have a target audience with this campaign? What was the research process like?
Angry Butterfly> We did want to reach young people, but we also thought that starting a broader conversation about the disparity between billionaires and certain communities that have largely been neglected by big business and governments (the same communities whose workers have helped those billionaires amass their fortunes), would help raise awareness for the work JFC does with a larger segment of the population, and therefore result in more donations through traditional channels. That’s the hope!
LBB> By default, not all Twitch accounts can accept subscriptions. As such, the JFC account would have had to meet certain conditions to unlock the subscribe feature. Can you tell us more about what went into making that happen?
Angry Butterfly> Our amazing project manager (Ana Del Monaco) spent a month following all the criteria for turning the JFC into a verified streamer – streaming a certain amount of time per day and reaching a certain number of followers. (The follower count is an important step in verification, as it has to be above 50). So, the whole agency got behind it and followed the account, as did the client team. There were times when we didn’t think it would work, and when we got verified, we all celebrated.
LBB> The ‘Bill It to Bezos’ spot is absolutely hilarious. Please tell us more about how it was made and the inspiration behind its look and feel!
Angry Butterfly> Our incredibly talented creative team (copywriter Ian Dunlop and art director Chenice Piercy) wrote the script, and Chenice developed the glitchy look. The inspiration was a combination of a few things. Mostly, we wanted to create the feel of a ‘hacker’ video, without making it too dark or serious. To this end, we felt humour was important to really engage people, and we drew colour inspiration from the JFC's palette combined with Amazon Prime’s and Twitch’s colours. Luckily they work together!
LBB> The ‘hacked’ Bezos head in the spot is both creepy and wildly funny. How did you go about making this for the campaign?
Angry Butterfly> Our 3D artist, Liam Murphy, made the model and animated the whole thing. The whole video (and all the other assets) were edited by Chenice and our ECD, Raul Garcia. We’re really lucky to have people with their skill sets on the team. The entire thing was done in-house.
LBB> How does this campaign fit into the JFC’s plans for both the fall, and the long term?
Amadeo> This campaign is both a profile-raising effort, as well as a fundraising effort. The JFC works in Toronto’s northwest quadrant. We wanted to ensure that the rest of Toronto understands the work happening in our community, and that we are a vital part of the city. The Jane-Finch/Black-Creek community continues to struggle with socio-economic issues as a result of structural inequality, and covid-19 has only exacerbated issues of poverty, health and social inequalities. This campaign aims to raise funds that will provide us with the much-needed resources to address these issues - specifically, the needs of the youth we serve.
LBB> What challenges have you faced during this project? How did you overcome them?
Angry Butterfly> Aside from the logistical challenges of turning the organisation into a verified streamer, our biggest challenge was creating a campaign that was simple enough to explain, while also entertaining enough to engage people on a large scale.
Amadeo> The biggest challenge was making sure that people, especially our community, understood that this is not a campaign promoting Amazon, but rather, a method of getting a big organisation to donate to the needs of the local community - even if it is unwillingly. Angry Butterfly assisted us with creating information materials that were easy to understand, and that got the message across and helped gain support for this initiative.
LBB> Although it’s early days, what has the response been like to this campaign? Have people been able to understand how Twitch Prime subscriptions work?
Angry Butterfly> The response has been amazing so far! People seem to get it (thank goodness!) and we’ve had a lot of positive coverage from ad trades as well as mainstream media (Global News, CTV, and BlogTO).
Amadeo> We have received a lot of attention from media outlets due to its unique approach. However, it is still too early to say whether people are able to understand how Twitch prime subscriptions work.
LBB> Is there anything you’d like to share about the JFC? And aside from Twitch Prime subscriptions, what’s the best way for people to support the JFC in the coming future?
Amadeo> If people prefer not to use Twitch or do not have an Amazon Prime account, the best way to donate to the JFC is by visiting https://www.janefinchcentre.org/donate.
LBB> Is there more stuff coming down the pipeline in the Angry Butterfly/JFC collaboration?
Amadeo> Our collaboration with Angry Butterfly has been an extremely positive experience. I’m sure that we will reconnect in the future to explore more innovative solutions to marketing, fundraising and generating brand awareness.
LBB> Is there anything you’d like to add?
The JFC is a multi-service organisation which serves the needs of over 15,000 residents annually. We have seen an increasing demand for our services, and we want to ensure that we have the capacity to meet this demand and provide timely service delivery.
