David Guetta is a Grammy Award winning international DJ who is best known for his electro-house dance club hits and has worked with the likes of acts such as Akon, Usher, Lady Gaga, Tegan and Sara, and Jay-Z. Recently, the 46-year-old French producer teamed up with the United Nations for “The World Needs More” campaign which integrates social media messaging and sponsored humanitarian campaign donations. Launched in support of World Humanitarian Day, “The World Needs More” campaign encourages fans to hashtag a Sponsored word on Twitter or Facebook which will unlock a $1 donation of that sponsors choosing. Fans are also allowed to donate via text message.

Whether that word is #Empowerment supported by Intel or #Strength promoted by Gucci, all sponsored words that are sent in with in company of the hashtag #TheWorldNeedsMore, will be turned into aid which will go towards specific humanitarian efforts around the world. Considering Guetta included the term Love in the title of his debut album, “Just a Little More Love,” and one of his most popular singles, “When Love Takes Over,” it comes as no surprise which word he’s sponsoring. “There’s been a lot of my songs about love and that’s the kind of person that I am, the biggest energy in the world. Universal love. Have a little bit of compassion and love for each other.”

Joining Guetta’s campaign are various countries and organizations including the UN Foundation, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the International Council of Volunatry Agencies (ICVA), and advertising agency Leo Burnett New York. The campaign was initially launched in August, though it was recently rebuffed at the knowledge of the costly devastations occurring in the Philippines at the hands of Typhoon Haiyan. Additionally money raised by Guetta will provide much needed food relief to those suffering from shortages in all parts of the world.

Guetta was also inspired to create an exclusive song to go along with his #Love campaign which he titled, “One Voice” featuring Mikky Ekko. His recent interest in global matters spurned his decision to create a song with a deeper meaning, “I’ve never had songs that are like this kind of subject, so I’m really excited about this. It’s a big change lyrically, but also sonically. Just, you know, growing up, trying to do something bigger than myself. It’s a big stretch from Sexy Chick.”

The visuals for the song were projected onto the face of the United Nations Secretariat Building in New York on November 22, 2013. Succeeding the broadcast of “One Voice,” the building was used as a backdrop for an interactive twitter wall which displayed tweets from across the world. This event was the first promotion of its kind and was hosted by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who began his week with a visit to an Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. Mr. Ban praised Guetta for his “courage to change and create a new future for us all.”

– Jeffrey Scott Haley
Feature Writer

Sources: Rolling Stone, Lubbock Online, UN, World Humanitarian Day
Photo: Radio