Earth Day. Was it memorable for you? It reminded us here at COUNTERPOINT about the massive information/communications revolution/confusion about what kind of serious environmental shape our world might be in. Greenwashing. Greenspeak. Ambassadors for the environment. What’s going on? Piros reminds us of the new greenspeak – words with new-new meanings – how about a kitchen carbon-sink? Ransford covers greenspinning. Rozenhart just seeks the truth, not an Al Gore powerpoint presentation. And then we tell you about a magazine series about the life of an MP – fascinating – and about one of the best trend books we’ve seen in a long-long time. Do you bit for the environment – make a difference. Walk the walk. Every bit helps – and while you’re at it. Do your bit for helping keep the green communications record honest… Read on, my greenies…
The Meaning of “Green”. Man-o-man. Talk about your pile-on communications. There are so many biggies and wanna-be’s wanting to get on the green conscience communications train that it’s hard to focus on the realities of the greening of western society. Picture a green train with too many people on the engine, and all types hanging off the boxcars, tankcars and caboose… Crazy.
Greenspeak. Kermit had no idea how right he was, back in the 80s when he observed, “it’s not easy being green”. The all-encompassing battle to save the earth through green initiatives has not only changed business practices, politics and politicians; it has given us a whole new language.
There are some out there who believe there is a way to master “environmental communications”, perhaps using certain messages that have been tested in focus groups and with opinion polls. These messages attempt to push certain hot buttons among consumers or appeal to a certain sense of public guilt. They resonate with varying degrees of intensity. Perhaps their relative effectiveness can be portrayed with various hues of green on some fancy graphs in a PowerPoint presentation.
Article of the Month: Wanna Be a (Canuck) Politician? Article: Sanity Found (Part 3)
Source: The Walrus
By: Barry Campbell Talk about reality. “So what’s it like? I was at the urinal, having a private moment in a too-public life. I wasn’t sure what the guy next to me was referring to. ‘What’s it like,’ he asked again, ‘politics?’… Politics distorts you, turns you into a relentless, vote-seeking, attention-craving political animal.”
Book of the Month: 2011 Trendspotting for the NEXT DECADE. By: Richard Laermer I’m grinning about this book. And about Laermer’s book titled: Punk Marketing. I just about reviewed that book – but got hung up on another book. But when 2011 sailed onto my desk, I just had to review it.
