Should TEs and Safelists be used for "Raising awareness campaigns"?

[Clare Bowen]

I'm curious as to what the MC community thinks.

 

Should Traffic Exchanges and Safelists be used for campaigns aimed at "Raising awareness" or gathering supporters and taking donations for causes?

 

For example, there's been a site rotating in some TEs, and has now found its way to Viral Mailers.

Electronic Torture in France (something along those lines).

 

But there are many different topics that can fall into this category.

[Darren Olander]

I don't see why not, I let people advertise what they like. I do wonder if it is worth it for them - especially the one you mentioned is an extremely narrow topic.

[market101]

Most people on TEs  and safelists are looking to make $ (I did not say everyone).  I agree with Darren. I do not believe it would be worth their time. BTW, I know Darren did not use those exact words. 

[Guest mrclean0325]

Over the years I have seen many of these type things on both. I believe those who do it don't do it for any monetary gain but to evangelize their charity, point of view, religious ideals, or political opinions. To them it is a matter of their "passion" and not the money...at least for their own personal gratification. Face it, they will get a lot of eyeballs on it and some will respond. People do it all the time in other media where they are actually paying money to have it done, here they may just be using what they can to do their part and using their time. As long as it doesn't go too far and become offensive to others (which the owners have to watch out for) I see nothing wrong with it myself. Some of them are well done and a welcome break from all the "Make a gazillion dollars in 24 hours" we are bombarded with all the time.

[Clare Bowen]

Thank you all for your replies :-) Yes, I've also seen quite a lot of this type of campaign come and go, but many of them seem to really stick in my memory, and I do dwell quite a lot on them. I almost always read them, and this one that I mentioned has made me think a lot, mainly because I found it somewhat disturbing, and it keeps coming up and making me think more :-) Not because I feel vulnerable to that, but because others clearly do.

 

I also remember an ad exchange (TAE) that was made, it seems specifically to raise funds for victims of domestic abuse. I did spend  money there because of the cause. There were a lot of ads going out from the admin to advertise this site, with a really sad poem that really got to me. Its been closed since.

 

I think in my case, the very fact that they are so different to the usual marketing ads, is what makes them stand out more than they do anywhere else.