:eyes:
WHEN President Bush told his staff last week to carpool or take the bus, because conservation could help alleviate the pain of hurricane-caused oil shortages, some cynics wondered: Would the country accept the challenge? After all, here was the most powerful man in the world rejecting his longtime position that conservation measures are not effective and offering to turn the White House into a model of green living. For some, like Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show," who responded to the president's speech by shouting, "The apocalypse is upon us," it was almost as if Michael Jordan had told the country to stop exercising, or Michael Dell had denounced capitalism. Surely the shocking reversal would make the public pay attention.
Still, the inspirational value of a sudden policy swivel, however grand, goes only so far. According to advertising executives, environmentalists and cultural critics, conservation can become a movement large enough to influence world energy markets only if it becomes hip, fashionable, something that teenagers, chief executives and celebrities from New York to Dallas to Los Angeles can't help but do.
EDIT
Yet President Jimmy Carter's calls for conservation in the late 70's, which often included a cardigan, are exactly what today's marketing experts say should be avoided in rallying another generation to the cause. Mr. Carter's approach was eventually seen as a righteous denial of fun that furthered the "malaise" of the era. This time around, marketers emphasize, conservation needs to become more like a trendy line of sneakers: entertaining, affordable and connected to a wide array of actions. "It has to be grass-roots driven," said Sharon Lee, a founder of Look-Look Inc., a market research firm in Los Angeles that focuses on youth culture, "and you have to allow people to participate in fun, creative ways. Maybe one day, if you bring your own cup to a coffee shop, you get 10 percent off because you saved the Styrofoam. And the next day they can do something else." Businesses, political leaders and conservationists must spawn a wide range of options, she said. The oilman in Texas may not want to give up his S.U.V., so perhaps he could earn free baseball tickets by composting instead. For the urban hipster who already drives a hybrid vehicle, there could be a Web site with advice on how to lead a project attaching solar panels to office buildings.
EDIT
Brian C. Anderson, the author of "South Park Conservatives" (Regnery, 2005), a treatise on the Republican Party's increasing bond with elements of pop culture, said that technology is conservation's only hope when it comes to being cool. "It's what young people are attracted to," Mr. Anderson said. "Technological innovation is what they're used to seeing every day."
EDIT
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/fashion/sundaystyles/02conserve.htmlWell, there we have it - the definitive answer from those in the know - we can't do anything unless it's trendy, sexy hip and cool to do it. Pardon me if I don't get all excited by free basketball tickets or a magazine insert containing wildflower seeds as some sort of substitute for an energy policy.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
