“I Can’t Reach My Charger” – And Other Global Crises

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Hello Creative Souls,

Very few brands have gotten attention with as much deadpan brilliance (and controversy) as the “First World Problems Anthem.”

The parody video features Haitian locals singing exaggerated laments of Western inconvenience: a phone charger that doesn’t reach the bed, having to shave with soap, or not knowing a maid’s name while writing her a check. 

All are read with mournful sincerity, underscored by cinematic music that evokes humanitarian crises. It’s hilarious. It’s uncomfortable. And it’s a lot more layered than it seems.

The Video:

On the surface, it’s a clever idea. By recontextualizing these complaints in a setting associated with real hardship, the video makes privilege feel absurd and bloated. The ad, backed by the nonprofit Water Is Life, was designed to both raise funds for clean water and provoke reflection among more fortunate audiences. It went viral (over 7 million views! But heck, the post TikTok/Reels world has diminished the value of the number) and sparked conversation everywhere from Twitter to university classrooms.

But here’s where things get murky…

🤔 Poverty Porn in the Name of Satire?

The creators borrowed the emotional language of global crisis campaigns to highlight absurdity, but they also leaned on the exact tropes that many activists now criticize as “poverty porn”: exploiting imagery of poverty to evoke guilt or pity from a Western audience. The locals in the video, while clearly in on the joke, are used primarily as visual contrast: the punchline isn’t their reality, it’s ours. But is using their reality as the visual backdrop fair? Or exploitative?

Critics argue that it reinforces an unequal power dynamic. The satire, while aimed at the privileged, still positions people in developing countries as a supporting cast to the West’s punchlines. Even when the joke is on us, they’re the props.

On the flip side, others argue it flips the poverty porn model on its head. Rather than asking for pity, the video gives agency to its Haitian cast. They’re not victims; they’re performers, mockingly echoing the ridiculous concerns of the global elite. It’s not “laughing at the poor”, it’s laughing at ourselves.

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 💡 What Marketers Can Learn

1. Satire needs precision. You can’t just flip the format of an old trope (like an NGO ad) without also interrogating the power dynamics inside it.
   

2. Intention matters—but so does impact. Just because your ad punches up doesn’t mean it lands cleanly. Look at who’s holding the mic, and who’s being asked to speak.
   

3. Humor can open wallets, but it can also reopen wounds. Are your visuals reinforcing the same tired narratives even as your message challenges them?

🎯 Final Word:

Great advertising makes us think. The “First World Problems Anthem” made us laugh, then squirm, then question. That’s a win. But it also left behind a trail of mixed feelings—especially among those it used to tell the joke.

So yes, it’s brilliant satire. But it’s also a case study in the razor-thin line between using poverty to critique privilege—and accidentally reinforcing the very hierarchy you’re mocking.

Choose your backdrop carefully. Even when the mic is pointed at the absurd, someone else might still be holding the frame.

Figment is written by Abbhinav Kastura, a writer/producer who has spent a decade making impactful internet videos and Guru Nicketan, an advertising nerd, B2B Marketer, stand-up comedian, and a film buff.