Advertising in connection with migration and refugees is not the first thing that comes to mind, but the connection goes back to the beginnings of modern migration in the 18th century. In recent years, unlike the advertising of the past in which trading ships and companies extolled the virtues of “the new world” to would-be immigrants from Europe, the attempt is to persuade refugees to return to their native countries. The challenge is to “sell” some of these countries where conditions are either perceived to be, or indeed are, challenging or unsafe. This story on National Public Radio tells of a Somali businessman recruited by the Kenyan government to appeal to other Somalis to leave the refugee camps and go back to Somalia. But as the reporter tells us, the messenger needs convincing himself.
Source: NPR.org