Sharks Need Your Help, Seth [Updated]
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 01.29.07
The new media, blogging, Web 2.0. It's all about conversation, right? Well, lets see. Earlier today we posted about how bad things were for sharks, with up to 200 millions of them getting killed each year and many of their 350 species facing extinction. Part of the problem is that sharks have an image problem: They are getting slaughtered (often their fin is cut off to make soup and they are thrown back in the water to die slowly) and almost nobody is even raising an eyebrow.
So lets ask an expert: Popular blogger and marketing guru, Seth Godin.
Seth, if sharks were your clients, how would you change their image? Is it possible to "sell" animals to the public without them looking like this or this (or in fact, anything here)? Is there a trick to speed up the process, or is it all about slowly educating people. These clients are not looking for more market-share, its their very existence that is at stakes (and if they disappear, whole marine ecosystems will suffer). Any ideas? ::Seth Godin's Blog, ::Jean-Michel Cousteau: Sharks Need Our Help
Update: Seth Godin left an insightful comment below. Thanks Seth!
Tthere's a lot of irrational public support for Great White hunting, all very emotionally charged, wheras the arguments against shark hunting are rational and based in science. Sentiment has an innate advantage. People want to go out to sea and be seen as heroic beast-slayers.
Big cats are far more dangerous to humans yet they get lionized (!) as charismatic and noble. Of course, they're still endangered.
Sharks have a sleek coolness. Maybe create a line of hip sleek household products called Shark. Beverage coolers, faucets, remote controls, shiny grey home decorating fabrics.
Well, definitely there should be a situation where we could stop this kind of attitude and help in to save their lives in all situation.
I think you're really asking a bigger question which is: how do we get people to take responsibility for the fish they eat?
the answer seems pretty practical to me: almost all fish we eat is either sold to us via a restaurant or a fish store.
given that fact, and the fact that both types of outlets are sensitive to public opinion, it feels like an angry (and loud) 1% could have a real impact. I've managed, all by myself, to impact how much swordfish my local fishmonger sells.
The challenge isn't the PR, it's getting permission to tell a coherent story to the million people who care. The problem is that the stories get confusing and qualified and aren't black and white enough.
A class action lawsuit against the people who produced the misleading information about sharks is required.The sharks do not get their fins back and the victims of the holocaust do not get thier lives back but it does make a knowledge worker happy.The bride at a Jewish wedding does not speak so I will end my awful cultural practice when you end yours.Cutting off parts without permission should be a crime no matter what species.