Clear Trumps Clever
February 24th, 2009 | 
Author: Here’s a TV PSA that J.P. in North Carolina brought to my attention. It’s very clever but I doubt it will do much to change attitudes or behavior about polluted runoff. What’s missing here is a clear call to action — exactly what the viewer is supposed to do after seeing the spot. The producers of this video seem to believe that if they just successfully and memorably convey how nasty the stuff is, the viewers will leap off their couches to figure out the rest, such as:
- What stormwater actually is
- Whether they are at risk of drinking any
- Whether they are responsible for creating any
- If they’re something they could do about it
- Whether anybody else is doing their part
How many viewers will actually do all that? One in a thousand? One in ten thousand? One in one hundred thousand?
Think I’m being harsh? Let’s do a simple test. Send the link to the video — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0I_9O4sVd0 — to somebody in your life who is not part of the conservation community.
Ask them to describe in their own words (don’t give them any hints), what the producers of the ad want them to do next. Post the replies in the comments field here below. I asked a couple of friends myself to prime the pump.
After that, click this link to reread step one of the Water Words That Work Method: Begin with Behavior. I’m looking forward to seeing what we come up with!
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Here’s a reply from one of my friends… she didn’t quite get it, did she?
“Great concept for getting the point across – the point being that we are asking for/supporting storm water runoff (which is gross) and we should stop because others dont like it… I guess the producers are asking me to stop asking/paying for storm water run off?
As an uninformed viewer I guess I would say I didnt know I was doing that.”
Here’s another:
“Uhmm…is there more to it than what it seems. I guess if it wasn’t for the end message (and the people groaning) I may have the impression that it’s acceptable to dump that stuff down storm drains. Or maybe it makes it seem that the tap water is nasty because it’s cycled from that stuff so don’t drink it. It could also just be trying to say keep the storm drains clean of the crap that you may throw in it. It really wasn’t as clear as it could be. Actually more entertaining than anything..”
Cute ad, but I definitely see what you mean about not calling for action. It makes the viewer think storm water runoff is a bad thing, but has nothing to say about what they can do.
I’m waiting to hear back from my two friends about their reactions. In the meantime, my own reaction is that this was way too fast, way too packed with split-second shots of important elements, to be really effective. I am stunned by the one viewer’s point that it looked like tapwater is filthy because it’s cycled through all that “crap,” so we shouldn’t drink it…OMG, I hadn’t thought that myself, but I can really see how it gives that message to the non-stormwater-related mind! I ended up thinking, okay, stormwater is bad, people pay for it, but so what?
All in all, this ad went for slick and ended up sloppy.
Friend #1 did pretty well, I think:
“Okay, the ad is about how badly water gets polluted during a storm from runoff because of people’s littering (that includes litter and dog crap) and because the guy asked for it the other patrons got upset with him since it appeared to be his choice to have the water polluted by asking for the drink.
The producers want you to stop and think about how you’re damaging the water you use daily.”
Here’s a response from a friend:
“It doesn’t make me want to do ANYTHING. It informed me of what is in storm water runoff, but from there I don’t really know what to do about it.”
That was a fun experiment. I Gmail chatted four random friends with, “Watch this commercial and tell me what action the producers want you to take,” and these are the responses that I received:
Friend1: ummm, i have no clue. we’re trying to save storm water?
Friend 2: pretty much stop doing everything I’m doing…gardening, driving……
Friend 3: I get the impression I am supposed to be mindful of the chemicals that I use (and my dog leaves) when it rains. However, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do to accomplish that. I think, wow, that’s gross that stuff is in the water runoff, but I’m not hearing how I can really help with that. I can guess ways, but I’m not hearing an explicit message. That’s what I get.
Friend 4: ugh,
not polute the streets
with fertilizer, dog poo, and other pollutants
cause you might end up drinking it at a bar?
Even the ones who understood what stormwater runoff was all felt like Pam’s friend above–it left them with no idea what to do about it (except maybe worry that they might drink it).
Emailed it to a friend and her response was:
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!
Not sure about the message they are trying to send. The message I’m getting is….never watch You Tube videos while eating lunch!
Tells me she got nothing worthwhile from watching it. I agree with Kelly’s comments about it being too fast. I had the volume turned up nice and high and I had to watch several times to catch all of the dialogue.
My good buddy had this to say:
“It was a strange video clip for the environment – a bar scene. Not sure what to think of it. Sounded more like a party than a bad thing. Almost like “shit, you lost the bet, pay up” but nobody seemed upset or worried about erosion.”
She cracks me up.