Reflections From a Murky Pond

As I’ve commented before, if one has a message that is in protest against someone or something, one should be cognizant of the imagery one uses. It does little or no good for one’s cause if the imagery you use to get attention actually provides a “positive” image of what you’re protesting.

Such was largely the case with the Surfrider Foundation’s 2011 “Oil Bikini” calendar.

Sorry, as much as I love the oceans and take issue with the wanton destruction of our maritime environment, this calendar is just not making me angry about the Gulf Oil Spill. If anything, the thought of pretty young women wearing nothing but oil strikes me as a “golden lining” in the situation, at least at the hindbrain level.

From Surfrider’s earlier Press release:

Last year’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico left a deep impression in people’s minds. To remember this catastrophe, we have a created a calendar with photos of young naiads covered in oil…This calendar, which will be offered to all members of Surfrider Foundation Europe, is also designed to help recruit new volunteers

By way of mitigation, the calendar was marketed as stress relief to current members of the organization; it wasn’t designed as a public push campaign. On the other hand, as proven by my posting of this, everything goes onto the internet and parts of it will stay there long after any thought of context has faded away.

Tags: Activism | Babes | Big Oil | Bikinis | Gulf Oil Spill | Marketing | Nature | Society | Surfrider Foundation | The Environment | Women

This entry was posted on Friday, July 29th, 2011 at 9:12 am and is filed under Art, Society, The Environment. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, often acronymized as FUD, is a marketing strategy used to mold, twist and control people’s perceptions through the use of strongly negative messages and doomsaying.

Use of FUD is a very common and successful tactic among activists and politicians.

They all, irrespective of agenda or ideology, use it because it works. It works because fear, uncertainty, and doubt are proven methods of pushing people to move in a certain direction or act in a certain manner, at least for a short time.

The very ubiquitousness of this means of social engineering makes it a solid metric for judging politicians and activists. What and/or whom do they wish us to fear? Who’s their chosen scapegoat? By the fears, uncertainties, and doubts that they sow we can know them.

Are the fears, uncertainties, and doubts they promulgate designed to brings us a people together to eradicate, combat, or defend against some foreign or outside threat, or are they designed to divide us by naming ourselves, our nation, and/or our very culture as the threat to be eradicated, combated, or defended against?

What is boils down to is are they peddling fear of others or fear of ourselves – “Us” or “Them?”

Tags: Activism | Doubt | Fear | FUD | Marketing | Oikophobia | Politics | Social Engineering | Society | Uncertainty | Xenophobia

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 at 8:49 am and is filed under Politics, Society. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.