Check out these ads, which reveal a great deal about different attitudes that polluters and conservationists bring to the task of persuading the public.
Social research consistently find that corporations, especially those in the fossil fuel business, have a serious credibility gap with the public. So what do they do? They work hard to put the best face possible on their business — your face. Polluters create ads that use pictures and words to tell heartwarming stories that link their business to everyday citizens’ families and children. And then they get feedback from everyday citizens before they run them, just to make sure they got it right. Check out the faces in these two examples:
Source: EnergyTomorrow Coalition
Social research consistently finds that nature protection and pollution control experts enjoy pretty good credibility with everyday citizens on our business. So what do we do? We create cryptic, sterile ads that portray the environment as remote and impersonal. We skip the step of getting feedback everyday citizens and run the ads after our peers approve them. And then we wonder why ads like the one below don’t seem to make much difference in a public policy debate:
Bottom line here: Polluters do it better because they try harder. And that’s one of the reasons they can overcome their credibility gap and beat us on vital policy matters.
It was my great pleasure to return to the Water Resources Education Network to present Water Words That Work. The presentation has evolved and changed a great deal since the first time I gave it, hasn’t it?
Click here to download the file to your computer.
So who do you think deserves $50,000 in grant money and free advertising? West Virginia’s Friends of the Cheat? The Southern Wisconsin Chapter of Trout Unlimited? American Forests? Nature Corps? or the Catamount Trail Association? Zip over to Redwood Creek Wines Great Outdoors Project and click or send a text message to support your favorite.
I’ll be casting my vote for Friends of the Cheat, since I’m a part-time West Virginia resident.
This kind of thing is called “cause marketing” — business put their advertising muscle into promoting a good cause, hoping that consumers will remember them for it. I don’t remember any others that were contests like this, but it’s a neat idea. Maybe there’s a business in your neck of the woods that would like to follow suit?
And here’s a Water Words That Work reminder: Everyday citizen hear the word “business” and think “good company.” They hear the word “corporation” and think “bad company.”
Click here to vote for the good cause of your choice!
Here’s a video that delivers a stern warning against dumping household hazardous waste down the toilet or in the stormdrain. It’s a great message for those who are paying close attention, but some people will see the commercial while sitting in a bar, or in the airport, or while their kids are yelling in their ear, or in some other distracting situation. Those folks won’t hear the narrator saying it’s bad to dump oil down the storm drain — they’ll just see a guy dumping oil down the drain and his wife doesn’t seem to mind.
Monkey see, monkey do. Under certain circumstances, this video could accidentally send the message that it’s ok to dump oil down the storm drain. The video should show the guy’s wife hitting him with a frying pan. That’s a message that would come through even if the sound was off.
