December 01, 2004
12/1 - Why we don't need another Jacques Cousteau (the audience has changed)
It's the age old refrain of ocean conservation dreamers -- "We need another Jacques Cousteau who can mesmerize the public and get them to fall in love with the oceans again." As if a single messiah might be the true hope, the savior of our declining oceans.
I guess the first question to ask about this is, "Do you see any individual managing to do this for any major issue these days?"
What people are saying with this is basically, "We need a hero for the oceans." Well, I hate to throw a wet blanket on such hopefulness, but there's an article in the December issue of Harpers (on newstands now, unfortunately they don't post the article on their website) titled, "Attack of the Superzeros: Why Washington, Einstein, and Madonna can't compete with you," by Thomas de Zengotita, that tells you why the public is no longer looking for true heros (even though they claim they are). The article is a little vague, but does make the general point -- people see themselves as their own heros.
What they are saying is the same basic thing I've been trying to get ocean conservationists to realize, which is that THE AUDIENCE HAS CHANGED. We're not dealing with the same human beings who were so moved by Jacques Cousteau in the 1950's and 60's. As the article says, today's mass audience is so enamored with themselves that, though they talk about wanting heros, the fact is most people have been led to believe that they themselves are the true heros, which makes it hard to compete.
If you get a chance, check out the article. It's fairly interesting. And its certainly relevant to ocean conservation -- its time to accept that not only do we not need another Jacques Cousteau, but the man himself would be largely ridiculed and parodied today if he were just getting started. The audience has changed, there is a need for new approaches in order to save the oceans.
Check out the article by Thomas de Zengotita. It's pretty cynical, but
unfortunately accurate.
so what do you think the public will respond to?
Posted by: Elizabeth at December 1, 2004 01:57 PMDamn. I was afraid someone would ask that question. I dunno. Did you read the Harper's article? Take a look at it and see what you think he's saying.
I think the most important aspect of all this stuff these days is to make peace with the gross inefficiency that exists today in our society. Its not like the old days when everyone watched one of three channels, and Jacques Cousteau was able to snag an enormous audience with every episode.
It's all grossly inefficient now, which is a lot of what, "The Future of the Past," by Alexander Stille (on our book list) is about. It's an excellent book.
I'm going to read the Harper's article again. It certainly does go somewhat counter to what we've been doing with celebrities.
More later.
- Randy
Posted by: Randy Olson at December 1, 2004 02:06 PMI have not read the article, but I think people are sick of "heros" because the idea that movie stars and athlethes are heros has made a mockery of the whole concept.
Put "what to do for MPA's" on the back of sun tan lotion tubes, hire those airplanes that carry banners down the shoreline at the beach, get volunteers to bring petitions (for legislation) to the boardwalks...Jane
I've not read the article yet, but I'll throw in my 2 cents anyway.
Perhaps rather than a hero/messiah/savior, perhaps give people an reason they can relate to and give them ways to make a difference. Lofty goals, how about some concrete examples:
International Coastal Cleanup Day--already popular, concerned people are already involved. Now expand it. Get the land lubbers involved.
As individuals, we have friends and coworkers--TELL THEM WHAT IS GOING ON! [yes, I am yelling] Don't wait for the savior, spread the gospel of ocean conservation yourself.
It's not easy, it's often discouraging but on occasion they'll see the light.
Hey, Randy--what about an off-color SB PSA with the religious twist?
Posted by: Jon at December 3, 2004 06:19 PMI watched "Supersize Me," yesterday which really is an excellent film. But sadly, here's the bottom line in our society:
MONEY TALKS
They listed the annual advertising budgets of major corporations like Pepsi, and they were in the hundreds of millions of dollars, just for a single product.
Back in September I gave a little talk to USC freshmen and asked them if they could think of any PSAs from their childhood. The one they ALL remembered (35 students) was Magriff the Crime Dog, "Take a Bite Out of Crime." I asked them whether they thought that was a particularly clever or cool or fun campaign. They all thought for a moment and replied, "Not really, it was just on all the time when we were growing up."
That's called MONEY TALKS. The sheer repetition of messages, more often than not, is what gets them across.
So your suggestion, Jane, of putting the message on suntan lotion tubes and flying banners is absolutely right. Though what you're really saying is, "Manage to find the same budget for advertising an important environmental message that Pepsi does for their product."
And as I said, Pepsi spends about $500 million a year on advertising. We were able to spend $50,000 on distribution of the Ocean Symphony PSA (which some people felt was extravagant, though it led to over 15,000 airings nationally). That's a 1000X difference in spending power. Ugh.
More importantly, the environmental world is run primarily by very analytical and rational people who don't seem to understand a lot of the irrational aspects of society. As a result, there is very little interest or belief in the idea of "advertising" (= effective mass communication). This is what the great study by Dave Wilmot and Jack Sterne, "Turning the Tide," concluded -- that ocean conservationists are much more comfortable and better with policy than politics (with mass communication being a central aspect of politics).
The net result for the oceans was that the Pew Oceans Commission spent < $100,000 communicating their $3 million study which ocean conservationists are now trying to tell the public about, saying its one of the most important ocean documents ever.
The Pew Oceans Commission should have figured out a way to get their message on suntan lotion bottles. That is the bottom line -- MONEY TALKS.
- Randy
Posted by: Randy Olson at December 4, 2004 06:01 AM