The Invisible Children's campaign to make Kony famous in 2012 is getting support from an unlikely source: a former porn actress.
Bree Olson, perhaps best known to a mainstream audience as one of Charlie Sheen's former goddesses, is adding #Kony2012 to her list of causes.
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In her most recent video, "Naked For Kony 2012," she rolls around on the beach in a bikini, poses sexily in LA's Little Tokyo and straddles some rocks in a form-fitting dress. In her film, she explains why:
Right now you're watching a video of me outdoors in California, interspersed with pictures of the effect Joseph Kony had on the people of Uganda. I put the two together because I know a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.
She also defends the charity from "doubters" and Internet "backlash," saying, "If you're against learning more about the world around you, even if that education comes from a video made by a charity that's flashier than most, you're missing the point."
But Olson's well-intentioned video may be providing one of the most salient critiques of the Invisible Children's original "Kony 2012" video: that the film is self-serving, irrelevant and somehow masturbatory.
Olson compares her jarring mix of sexy poses and photos of mutilated Ugandan children to Invisible Children's "Kony 2012" film, in which the story of a Ugandan tragedy is conveyed through a conversation between a white American father and his young son:
The Kony 2012 documentary runs by the same principle. It's nice packaging on something that wouldn't be an inherently fascinating topic to that many people otherwise.
Her film ends on a positive note, encouraging viewers to take action by supporting African Medical and Research Foundation, Africare and Children of the Nations.
We've reached out to Invisible Children for a response to Olson's video and will update this story if we get one. For now, we're guessing that the people who coined the Kony 2012 slogan "Stop At Nothing" weren't anticipating this film tactic.
UPDATE: Bree Olson got in touch with the Huffington Post about the making of her film, saying that she called her crew to make her own video after she was inspired by Invisible Children's Kony 2012 film. Olson explained that she appeared in a bikini for the shoot because the majority of her fan base is male, and she hoped "a little skin" would help capture their attention.
She also defended the controversial charity, saying that she was upset when detractors began accusing Invisible Children of being a "scam." "I do not agree with everything the Invisible Children charity does," Olson said, but "I encourage people in my video to watch their video to simply raise awareness."
Olson hopes to visit Africa one day to get more education about the issues raised in the "Kony 2012" video and to provide as much financial and hands-on help as possible. "Even if my video only made five people donate to Africa through ANY charity, it will make a world of a difference to at least one human being over in Africa, and that is my goal," she said. "All I ever want to do is help and save lives of all living beings."