We encouraged people to use their mobiles to post pictures of themselves in social networks but with their faces

covered.

The paper covering them had a handwritten donation URL for Typhoon Haiyan survivors.

As thousands donated their "face space" for the cause, a powerful social mechanism was born.

Within days after its launch, the #unselfie became a new online phenomenon.

It was even taken up by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Global news outlets like CNN, BBC, NPR, Huffington Post, Radio Television Suisse and Mashable.com featured the #unselfie as thousands participated.

It gathered 131 million impressions in just three weeks.

But more important than the birth of a new social, charitable mechanism, was its effectiveness: people posted how the

#unselfie prompted them to donate. And Unicef head of programs Nic Alipui praised it as: 'a veritable movement.'

When Haiyan struck the Philippines, the devastation was unlike anything the world had ever seen. Everyone wanted to help. But they didn't know how. We needed to tell people in a way that was pervasive, cheap and fast.

So we decided to transform the self-indulgent act of the moment into an act of helping: post a picture

of yourself -- as you would in a selfie -- but with your face covered by a paper showing a donation URL.