Blog Action Day: Don’t give in to the Dark Side of the “We” #BAD2012

Today, October 15, is Blog Action Day. It's an opportunity for bloggers around the world to post simultaneously on a single topic that relates to social issues or social change. This year, the topic is "The Power of We":

We choose this theme for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the popularity of the your suggestions; Community, Equality, Transparency/Anti-Corruption and Freedom, in our theme poll. Secondly, The Power of We is a celebration of people working together to make a positive difference in the world, either for their own communities or for people they will never meet half way around [t]he world.

When I thought about how I'd represent this idea in a marketing context, I have to admit that the first thing that popped into my head was an ad almost as old as I am, from of all advertisers, Coca-Cola:



Times have sure changed. Now, "Big Soda" is the enemy of activist marketers like former CP+B  creative demigod Alex Bogusky. But, consumerism aside, was this hippy-dippy "we're all in it together" dream ever even achievable? Part of me really wants it to be possible.


As the father of a third-grader, I try to encourage my son to view all fellow humans as brothers and sisters. Growing up in a multicultural community, he has not yet learned to categorize people by skin colour or cultural affiliation. When I ask him to describe a classmate or adult in his life, he describes them based on their personality and actions, rather than appearance. It's nice, but I also realize it will not last.

Perhaps he will not grow up with the same racialized context I still work hard to leave behind, but as he grows he will join tribes of interests, location or politics that will inevitably bring him into conflict with others.

"We" humans are tribal. There is no getting around it. Social experimenters continue to replicate the same results when they create artificial or arbitrary tribal differences between groups of strangers. For example, diversity trainer Jane Elliott is able to turn brown-eyed and blue eyed groups agains each other. Tribalism is so engrained in our very biology that it threatens our world and future as a species. While it can express itself in (usually) harmless ways, like fanatic team loyalty in organized sports, even that can turn into violence. "We" in this context is another way of saying "us over them".

This idea of "we" exists in nationalism, religion, politics, even what band you like. And it's killing us. In the Middle East, "we" are under threat from a corrupt western civilization that insults our religion and wants to turn our daughters into prostitutes. So "we" attack and kill foreigners in their embassies, and even in their own cities.

In North America, "we" don't believe in biological, statistical, economic or climate science, so we oppose measures that would reduce our impact on the climate, help the poor and sick, and prevent unwanted pregnancies. It goes on and on.


Membership in a group is usually defined by opposition to other groups. And to protect our tribal identity, we naturally dehumanize outsiders. The most extreme cases are in war. But it happens every day when we make generalizations about "those people" or fail to treat our own tribe's agreed-to "truths" with healthy skepticism.

Which brings us to the world of cause marketing. Tribalism can be an incredibly powerful source for change, especially as the internet allows formerly isolated individuals to gain strength from a positive group identity.

A good example is the It Gets Better project, in which Dan Savage's attempt to reach out to LGBT youth at risk turned into a massive outpouring of support from both LGBT and straight ally communities.

What was great about this effort was its inclusiveness. Anyone was welcomed to join the tribe, as long as they had a message of hope and positivity for the youth. But they were still defined by a common enemy: homophobia.

The other good thing about that campaign was that it was based on hope, rather than fear. In fact, the enemy was fear.

Usually, when an enemy is defined, exaggerated fear of that enemy (rational or not) is used to rally the troops. And once rallied, those troops start to lose any sense of logic or common sense.

This can happen in any movement, whether its members consider themselves conservative or progressives.

This Blog Action Day, as a blogger, social marketer and human being, I would like to urge you all to embrace the positive side of "The Power of We". Welcome your friends. Understand and empathize with your enemies. And don't get sucked into the dark side of the We.

Cross-posted on Change Marketing and Osocio Academy.

Blog Action Day: Corporate Sustainable Food Responsibility? #BAD11 #food

Note: Today is Blog Action Day. Since it's also World Food Day, bloggers worldwide are posting about food security and related issues.

If you haven't yet been made depressed by this long PSA (or short film, take your pick) released by Chipotle, you can curse me later. But you should see it:



That's a mournful cover of classic Ed Bruce country song, made famous by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, sung now by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

The film was released by The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, to raise awareness of their key issue as outlined in their mission statement:

"The Cultivate Foundation will carry forward the tradition of giving set out by Chipotle Mexican Grill, which has contributed more than $2 million in the past several years to help fund initiatives that support sustainable agriculture, family farming, and culinary education."

It is also raising funds for Farm Aid, begun by Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young in 1985.

A great thought. But can it work? Will average people, especially Americans, be willing to give up their preference for massive servings of cheap food for a more expensive but conscionable way?

I last covered this foundation in August, when they released another great video against factory farming (an issue close to my heart). Then, as now, it almost seems too good to be true.

I really, really want it to work, however. I want to see food — even fast food — come from healthy, humane and (where possible) local sources. I want to see farming return to the hands of small and family-based entrepreneurs who are motivated to come up with innovative systems for producing better meat without cruelty and pollution.

The problem is, these seem to be elitist issues at the moment. Industrial food production has made meat easily accessible, on a daily basis, by all but the poorest of North Americans. And the demand for cheap hamburgers will continue to be a major pressure against purposely increasing the cost of a staple food.

The real solution, in my opinion, is not increased regulation by public health authorities, but rather removing the economic interference that makes fast food so cheap.

In the United States, corn is heavily subsidized by the federal government. The Eating Well blog claims that from 1995 to 2006 federal corn subsidies totaled $56.2 billion, saving the American beef industry on average $501 million a year.

(Canada also subsidizes large farming operations, although not as much as The US.)

While government subsidies would on surface seem to be providing a lifeline to the very farmers the video shows as in need, they create a system that favours large industrial farming operations and the commoditization of food.

I have seen this first hand. My wife's uncle has a small beef farm in New Brunswick. He puts all of his free time (since he needs another day job to make ends meet) into hand-raising his herd. But in the end, he gets paid no more per pound than any mechanized operation churning out cows for slaughter on the cheap.

Thankfully, the huge resurgence of local farmer's markets has provided an economic shortcut that links good farmers with enlightened consumers. If you're going to eat meat (like I do) it's reassuring to be able to talk to the person who raised the animals and arranged for their slaughter. In such a marketplace, pastured and antibiotic/hormone free meat warrants a premium price.

But back to the commodity meat market. What would happen if the economic protections that let BIG MEAT (and corn, and grain, and soy) produce so cheaply were reduced? What if a Big Mac cost $10? Would people adjust to better eating habits they could afford, or would they simply put too much of their budget into food?

The saddest part is that real food can already be cheaper than fast food, at least according to this New York Times infographic:

The real barrier is educating people how to prepare food, making sure they can store it safely, and getting them to care.

So, what is my point on this Blog Action Day? Well, I guess I'd just encourage you to think about the world you want to live in, then make the personal choices that will help make it happen. As a consumer, you can decide to pay more for better meat, eat less (or none) of it, and start to question your supermarket, your butcher, and your restaurants about the sustainability of their suppliers. Then support those that make an effort. As a voter, you can question your elected representatives about what they're doing to ensure a healthy and fair market for independent farmers.

As I wrote on Change Marketing, some social scientists believe that it only takes a core group of 10% of the population to be activists inspire progressive social change. You can be one of them.

A golden shower for mother nature

Osocio posted this hilarious link on Twitter. It's a Brazilian cartoon PSA telling people that peeing in the shower will save 12 litres of water per non-flush:



Who knew that being a lazy slob could be so virtuous?