Press Center

Firdaus Kharas and the work of Chocolate Moose Media have been covered extensively by media, academic and institutional sources around the world. Kharas has been profiled or his work covered more than 500 times, including by The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, CBC, The Atlantic, Reader’s Digest, and Maclean’s, as well as by media in many countries and languages.

His human-centered communications methodology, including the use of animation, humour, universal values, linguistic and cultural adaptation, and mass communication across cultural boundaries, has also been examined in academic publications and studies. Kharas and his work are cited in books and publications, and his work is held in permanent collections including the Smithsonian Institution.

Recent Coverage

• Project Save the World — “About ‘Lifesaving Videos’”
• CBC Radio — “How a local studio is using videos to aid against the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo”
• “Restoring a Little Faith in Humanity: Firdaus Kharas’ Continuing Fight Against Ebola”
• The Globe and Mail — “Ottawa filmmaker uses AI to accelerate life-saving content”
• CBC Radio — “Local documentary maker and humanitarian made an Officer of the Order of Canada”
• Toronto Star — “78 new Order of Canada appointments”

Selected Independent Coverage

• The New Yorker — “Pitching Rubbers”
• The Globe and Mail — “I’m Just Trying to Make a Small
  Contribution”
• The Washington Post — “New AIDS campaign uses animated characters dressed as condoms to deliver message in 41 languages”
• Ottawa Citizen — “Ottawan’s talking condoms win Peabody”
• The Globe and Mail — “Animated Series Brings Africa to Other Cultures”
• The Atlantic — “Talking Condoms Make Safe Sex Campaigns Acceptable in Conservative Countries”
• The Guardian — International Development Achievement Award
• Ottawa Sun — “Ebola top of mind for medics, artists, academics”
• Global Geneva — “Imaginative Cartoons: Reaching Out for AIDS, Malaria and Ebola”
• Ottawa Citizen — “Carleton honours community builders as convocations begin”
• The Huffington Post — “A New African Super-girl Confronts Ebola” 
• Radio-Canada — “Une nouvelle formation virtuelle pour lutter contre le racisme développée à Ottawa” 

Academic & Institutional References

• United Nations — Press Briefing on “The Three Amigos” HIV/AIDS Prevention
  Programme 
• United Nations — Press Conference on Public Service Announcement Campaign to Rid World of Malaria
• Translators Without Borders / GSD Magazine — “When Linguistics Saves
  Lives”
• Carleton University — “Firdaus Kharas: Using Laughter and Animation to Save
  Lives”
• Carleton University — “Firdaus Kharas: Creator of Chocolate Moose
  Media”
• Érudit — “The (Globalized) Three Amigos: Translating and Disseminating HIV/AIDS
  Prevention Discourse”
• Health
  Psychology, by Hymie Anisman — SAGE resources 
• Canadian Who’s Who — current biographical reference

Interviews, Podcasts & Talks

• “Doing the Impossible”
• Speech to the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce
• “Firdaus Kharas: The Power of Individual Vision in a Rapidly Changing World”
• “What’s Your Thing?” Podcast
• Say It Skillfully — “Firdaus Kharas animates change in the world”
• Leadership Moments — “Talking Creative: Firdaus Kharas”
• Beyond the To-Do List — “Creativity: How to Unlock a Remarkable Life with Firdaus Kharas”
• The Leadership Podcast — “How to Be Creative”
• The Mindful Experiment — “Finding Your Creativity”
• Women Arise — “Pandemic in the Age of Global Communications”

Additional Notable Coverage

• YourStory — “From habit to impact: how creativity can transform lives and livelihoods”
• Microfinance and Beyond — “Firdaus Kharas, a social entrepreneur using media to better human conditions around the world”
• Darpan Magazine — “Firdaus Kharas: Activism Through Animation”
• LeNews — “Fighting Ebola with viral animation”
• World Religion News — “Prayers and Poems: How Churches Help the Battle Against Ebola”
• Christian Today — “Four minutes which could turn the tide on the Ebola crisis”
• NextBillion — “Talking Condoms and Global Health: Firdaus Kharas’ innovative approach to health behavior change”
• Rabble — “Firdaus Kharas: Animating public service and social justice”
• Global Issues — “Social Media Campaign to Take-on Domestic Abusers”
• Inter Press Service — “Malaria Campaigns Ramp Up Focus on Bed Nets”
• Animation World Network — “Animated Boondocks & Three Amigos to Receive Peabody Awards”
• Taipei Times — “Condom-clad characters to take on AIDS”
• KFF Health News — “New Global Campaign Launched To Promote Condom Use; ‘Three Amigos’ Animated PSAs Use Humor To Stop Spread of HIV”
• The Record — “Animated Condoms Carry Anti-AIDS Message” — archived newspaper issue, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec