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Human Behavior:
If you ask those who study human behavior,
they will tell you that emotions are the main
motivations for human actions.
When we take a physical action, it's actually
the inner feeling of "I feel good"
that we are after. We commonly
respond from our emotions and then think
up the intellectual reason why we did such and
such. So how do we apply
this principle to promoting awareness of
Global Climate Change?
Preaching to the Quire:
Notice the mind set of people who attend films
and watch TV programs about Global Climate
Change. The attendees/viewers are
already on the "save-the-Earth"
bandwagon. To target this type of
audience is excellent for inspiring
assistance, for raising money, for networking
and for the creation of local support groups,
but it misses a huge potential audience.
Waking the Sleepwalkers:
In addition, we need something to awaken the
sleepwalkers -- something that will
sneak up on them and take them by surprise --
something that is very short (fifteen seconds
or less) -- something that will elicit a
sudden, strong, unexpected, emotional
response -- something that they can't
simply forget is the next thirty seconds.
Here's an example:
Setting the Stage:
If Global Climate Change is not reversed
immediately, the Greenland ice cap, the polar
caps and most mountain glaciers will all melt
causing the ocean level to rise by about forty
feet by the year 2099 or sooner.`
The Visual Solution:
Imagine looking at pictures of well known
objects seen in the year 2099 under forty feet
of water such as New York Harbor with water
flooding over the bases of the Manhattan
Island buildings. Imagine a map of
Florida with vast areas under water.
Imagine New Orleans, Louisiana -- London,
England -- Venice, Italy -- Washington D.C. --
the Netherlands -- all submerged because
climate change has melted the Greenland ice
cap, the polar caps and most mountain
glaciers.
Picture Headers and
Captions: Include
verbal headers and captions with these
pictures (and add an auditory message to the
videos) saying something like this:
Header: New
York Harbor 2099
Caption:
That's all right. Don't be
concerned. Your grandchildren
won't care how deep the ocean is, anyway.
Global Climate Change
will have killed them long before this.
Distribution:
Trailers could be added to the pre-movie clips
at theaters. Videos could also
have pre-movie clips added to them.
Photos could be added to magazines and
newspapers. Public service announcements
could be on television and radio.
Large posters could be hung in conspicuous
places. Bill boards could have
messages on them. Et cetera.
What
would happen if a poster showing a map of the
United States with all the coastal areas
flooded under forty feet of ocean water were
give to every third grader in the entire
nation on the same day and they were all sent
home with instructions to ask their parents to
explain what was going on and why?
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