Mobile Network Challenges Youth to #DoGoodWithData by Taking Social Media Hiatus

Dublin creative agency The Public House and 48, Ireland’s first truly digital-only youth mobile network, is partnering with social enterprise FoodCloud this Christmas for the #DoGoodWithData initiative to help raise funds and fight food waste over the festive period. With festive spirits in the air and with it being the true month of giving, it was the perfect time to launch this social movement, which has called on members of the public to participate by going offline for 24 hours to help raise much needed funds to aid FoodCloud in their quest to reduce food waste this Christmas, New Year and beyond.

Over one million tonnes of food is thrown out in Ireland annually with each household wasting on average €700 each and every year, peaking at Christmas time. FoodCloud works with food businesses nationwide who have volumes of surplus food and supply this food to their network of charity partners to ensure minimal food waste and donating it to those in need.

To kick off this feel-good campaign, The Public House worked alongside PR agency Murray to deliver this social initiative, partnering with some of Ireland’s favourite influencers and content creators, including Killian Sunderman, The Useless Project, Tara Stewart and many more. They were asked to make the ultimate (social) sacrifice. Each of them have logged off from their social platforms for 24 hours; no scrolling, no posting and no tagging. The data that is unused from going dark will then be turned into a cash donation from 48 Ireland to FoodCloud. At the end of their challenge each content creator challenged three mates to do the same to start the chain of reaction and engage with the mass public.

This impactful initiative not only raises funds for a worthy cause but also highlights a key feature of being a 48 member: the ability to donate your unused data at the end of each month.

Speaking about the initiative, Eilis Fitzgerald, head of marketing communications at 48, commented: “Our unique plans were created to allow our members the flexibility to use their data how they want to use it. Since we launched our new plans earlier this year, our customers have chosen to donate €10,000 to FoodCloud, which is incredibly heart-warming to see especially throughout such a tough year. We believe the Christmas spirit is strong within our membership base and are confident that they will be fully behind this initiative to support FoodCloud.”

With membership plans starting from just €7.99 per month, customers have the choice to do more with data by choosing from a selection of flexi-data features including sharing, swapping, saving and donating data.

Jarrod Banadyga, creative director at The Public House, added: “The fact that you can donate your data with 48 is a great feature, and we wanted to help make sure it didn’t get lost in the scroll. So creating this social challenge around the holidays is an easy way for people to get a taste of what it’s like to be a 48 customer and get that good karma flowing.”

The initiative is underway now, winding down after the holidays and is actively building donations.