Keeping Local Businesses Alive with RXM Creative VirtualCheers.org
There are many virtual drinks initiatives around to keep us sane in these challenging days, but independent creative agency RXM Creative launches VirtualCheers.org, a virtual drinks initiative with a difference. It’s a website which enables users to download a Zoom background of their favorite bar, donate to the bar’s staff relief and have virtual meetups in the bar with their friends.
Created in partnership with Convicts media brand, VirtualCheers.org is an initiative conceived in the lively, buzzing neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn to help local bars, restaurants and businesses during the COVID-19 crisis and help keep local spots alive, not just in the US but globally.
New Yorkers, along with the rest of the world value their local drinking and eating establishments, and community residents hope that they can survive these uncertain times. Even when restrictions begin to be lifted, it’s widely believed that the hospitality industry will be one of the last to be allowed to operate, therefore making the current and future economic conditions extremely tough to navigate and harder to survive.
“There is something magical about seeing everyone in the same place, even with the help of a virtual background. We love these bars and miss the atmosphere, and this is the closest thing to having them back. All we have to do is donate a round, download their background, and cheer in their name. But these virtual parties can translate to real change for the staff and people who run these bars.”
Mihai Botarel,
Co-founder and Creative Director RXM Creative
New bars can join the platform for free by emailing hello@virtualcheers.org from their business address containing:
- Business name, address and contact
- Funding platform link e.g GoFundMe
- Attach background image of bar or restaurant: minimum 1280×720 jpeg, png
VirtualCheers.org is not handling any transactions, it will simply link to employee relief fund. The staff relief funds are enabled by crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe or Venmo where bar employers are help their staff whilst all bars, restaurants and cafes are closed.
In addition, Instagram filters have been added to the Instagram handle @virtual_cheers, with bar backgrounds that can be used on Stories and Instagram Live with an easy Swipe Up donation link.
RXM was created in 2014 by 360i veterans Mihai Botarel and Raul Mandru. Based in Brooklyn, NY, it is an award-winning agency specializing in integrated marketing campaigns, social media and branded content for brands such as Ray-Ban, Christian Louboutin, L’Oreal, Tabasco, Loro Piana and Under Armour.
Some of RXM’s most celebrated campaigns have ranged from the Instagram Menu, which transformed a behavioral food trend into a social media phenomenon, to The Social Ego, a toy that inflates when its owner garners social media likes, to Clickbait for Good, which turns clickbait headlines into a platform for charitable initiatives.
Over the course of 6 years, RXM Creative has received multiple awards including Cannes, Webby’s and Clio.
Convicts is a young media brand that produces and publishes premium content celebrating real people and their authentic stories, based in Brooklyn, NY.