Experience Matters

Earth Hour: Could it have been better?

How about all that buzz around Earth Hour, eh? Millions of people around the globe turned out their lights, all in the support of the idea that “individual action on a mass scale can help change our planet for the better”. 24 global cities signed up, 58% of adult Australians participated and over 2100 global corporations including McDonald’s, Proctor & Gamble and Citicorp got involved. It was an engaging event to many, including me and my family. The utilities even saved a little power.

But let’s cut to a few days after. I took a day off to do some volunteer work for a local environmental organization. Naturally, discussion of Earth Hour arose during the breaks in our meetings. The consensus among the environmentalists in the room? Earth Hour was promoted with a negative message built around feelings of fear and sacrifice.

It sounds pretty harsh from a group of people who themselves could be accused of being pretty negative a lot of the time. However, this response reflects a subtle and important shift in thinking. Early in those meetings, we reviewed a research presentation about public attitudes to environmental issues. The conclusion was simple - it’s time to offer hope and real solutions. Sound uniquely progressive? Not at all – the opinion that we need more positive thinking is gaining a lot of credibility in the environmental community. Consider the early indicators - books like The Geography of Hope and Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility. Sites like Worldchanging are almost defiantly optimistic in seeking real-world solutions and a few commentators are anxious to remind us that realistic climate change solutions already exist.

The advertising industry seems to be catching this spreading wave of optimism. Look back at this infamous downer from 2006, the train commercial from Environmental Defense, which made even the sympathetic cringe. Compare that to more recent, more inspirational campaigns like Wieden + Kennedy London’s Problem Playground for Honda UK and Subaru’s zero landfill commercials. There may be more in store now that the world’s fifth largest agency holding company, Publicis has purchased the solutions oriented consultancy, Act Now (of Wal-mart fame) to form the corner stone of its new international sustainability agency.

So what about Earth Hour? It’s essentially a positive event intended to engage and empower the person-on-the-street, but it still relies on traditional messages about the potential for catastrophe and the need for sacrifice to buttress its value.

Watch the following video.

Notice how it starts by using images of natural disasters positioned as the results of climate change? Later in the video, we hear the worried voices of participants as they talk plaintively about “trying to reduce my impact”. I think World Wildlife could have done better. Am I splitting hairs? Sure, but as marketers, we need to be very thoughtful about how we talk about sensitive subjects like climate change. If your agency hasn’t been asked to talk about this issue in the context of a marketing campaign, it’s just a matter of time. That brief will bring some hidden responsibilities. Our messages can and will ultimately impact public willingness to keep the faith and participate in meaningful solutions.

We have to be careful about the tone we take.