Advertising agency DDB New York put a spin on the popular hashtag #firstworldproblems with its campaign for Water is Life, a nonprofit that helps bring clean drinking water to impoverished countries. The video features Haitians reading #firstworldproblems tweets; for example, a boy sitting on a pile of rubble says, “I hate when my leather seats aren’t heated.” The video closes with the line, “#FirstWorldProblems are not problems.”
Some critics claim the campaign is too scripted and oversimplifies the issue. London blogger Niclas Hellberg pointed out that the tweets featured in the video were written by DDB employees.
DDB chief creative officer Matt Eastwood said, “We’re trying to reframe the discussion. Our aim is ultimately to effect the way that hashtag goes out there and maybe try to reduce the usage of it.”

