Prasit "Meng" Vitayasamrit is part of up-and-coming creative agency Choojai (facebook.com/choojaiandfriends). Under the concept of "creative for good(s)", they produce works that promote moral principles and are beneficial for society. One such project is their collaboration with Mom Made Toys, which aims to distribute 10,000 toys for children across the country. Meng's holiday campaign is wrapping up but visit facebook.com/mommadetoys for more details about volunteering and future campaigns.
HOW DO YOU IMPLEMENT THE IDEAS OF A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE?
Just before we formed [Choojai], we thought if skills can be used to sell products, why not use them to do good? It applies to all from big companies with lots of money to little projects like Mom Made Toys. The latter usually lacks creativity and manpower to make it work. We balance charity projects with our commercial work to sustain both the campaign and the company.
HOW DO YOU BALANCE COMMERCIAL AND SOCIAL PROJECTS?
We want to do as many social projects as possible but we don't have specific guidelines of how many. It depends on whether we are satisfied. We have to sustain our livelihoods and the agency. The only limitation is that we are a small, five-person agency so there are only so many projects we can handle. At the moment we do more social projects because not many other agencies are doing them and our agency's reputation is spreading quickly by word of mouth.
HOW DID CHOOJAI GET INVOLVED IN MOM MADE TOYS?
We worked with them at our last agency and they were actually our inspiration to form Choojai. They taught us that creatives can be altruistic too.
WHAT ASPECT OF THE PROJECT ARE YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR?
We are the guys behind the scene. Simply put, we are the creative, a liaison between Plan Toy
[the company that's sponsoring the Mom Made Toys project] and the mums. We manage, cover and organise activities related to the project.
HOW DO YOU GAUGE THE SUCCESS OF THE MOM MADE TOYS PROJECT?
Personally, every day is a success because at the beginning there was no funding. Now it makes mums and their kids everywhere happy. Our greatest success is a teacher who began educating children
[with special needs] after learning about Mom Made Toys on TV. Not only did the kids get their toys but a person gained a new qualification as well.
