Flash Mobs as Optimism Drivers

Book stores that were once filled with books about dreaming and achieving are now filled with books about the end being near and suicide prevention, John McCain's Twitter feed is solely devoted to tearing apart the stimulus package, and I passed a man on the side of the road today holding a sign that says 'The End is Near.' When the best news we have to cling to is Wal-Mart's impressive sales numbers for February of ‘09, is there any optimism left?

Although the optimism quotient is in decline there are still glimpses of hope if you look hard enough. One of those glimpses is the resurgence of flash mobs.

Just a few weeks ago thousands of facebook users mobbed Trafalgar Square and the Liverpool Street Station in London to spontaneously dance.

Three weeks ago Taiwan had their first flash mob where 50 people showed up to participate in an organized pillow fight



and earlier this week a theater group in Scotland organized a flash mob to dance in the town centre.

In each case the flash mob is filled with fun and optimism and manifests joy-crazy happiness is on the faces of the participants. In the case of the dancing London flash mobs they were a reenactment of a T-Mobile commercial.
As the economy continues to suck it is important to hang on to the optimism that helps define America. Any time pure joy can manifest and brighten the day of thousands of people it is a good thing, and something people will appreciate. It’s a generous idea.

The New Optimism: 'Yes We Can' Advertising Abounds

In this time of crisis/recession/fear, advertising is fostering themes of hope and shiny optimism.

Bankrupt!: National Debt Clock Runs Out of Digits

National Debt Clock has run out of digits.


via AdLab

Social Web Amplifies AIG Advertising Ironies

AIG's ad message irony: a theme of 'Strength to Be There' sparks a campaign pullout. But the social web never forgets as links and WOM spreads virally.




And this blogger received a direct mailer (and topped Digg ranks yesterday) from AIG asking: "If Disaster Strikes, Will You Have The Protection You Need?".

Perhaps marketers will need to audit their brands' vulnerability in a worst case scenario where the product/company can't deliver on the ad message - in a big public way. This, of course, is the eternal bane of advertiser's existence - the nagging worry that "what if my client can't deliver on our big brand idea?"


via AdAge and IPoopDaily.com

Community 2.0: Hurricane Gustav Information Center

A collective assembly of Gustav Information. Using Ning platform, the site aggregates content from a variety of social media resources, including; Flickr, Twitter, YouTube, Utterz, Technorati, etc.- all you have to do is tag the item gustav.



*Hopefully, this will be a merely academic exercise in pre-caution.

via Social Media Club

Panic Button: Water

Good Magazine explores the stats and realities of our planet's most abundant (and scarce) resource, water.

Panic Button: Made in China

An activist group is pushing for the resignation of a top Consumer Product Safety Commission official for failing to take a stronger stance on toy safety and has created a YouTube video to get its message across.


The Campaign for America’s Future is calling on Nancy Nord to step down as the CPSC’s acting director, largely for her opposition to legislation to strengthen the commission’s oversight on toy safety.

Millions of Chinese-made toys containing excessive levels of lead have been recalled in recent months from a number of toy manufacturers, including Mattel.

The group, which challenges “the big money corporate agenda” by encouraging people to speak up, says the commission is failing to protect children from dangerous toys.

To garner support, the organization created an online video that shows a “toxic” encounter between Mattel-made dolls Barbie and Ken.

“We’re trying to call attention to this,” says Eric Lotke, research director for Campaign for America’s Future. “The message is these toys are unsafe and the government authority, which is duty bound to keep us safe, is failing.”

In the video, Barbie and Ken run into each other at a bar. Their post break-up reunion ends the next morning at the Barbie Dream House. A week later, Barbie begins to complain to Ken that she is “having some symptoms.” When Ken asks what’s wrong, Barbie answers, “It’s…it’s lead poisoning.” It also reminds people that accessories for Barbie dolls were among the millions of imported toys recalled this year because of toxic levels of lead paint or other safety problems.

The group is relying on people to spread word of the video virally. Since its launch last week, the video has been viewed more than 60,000 times. And so far, about 7,000 people have signed the petition.

Reps from the organization plan to deliver the petition to Nord at the end of the week, Lotke said.

via Promo

What is "sorry" enough?

Mattel hit a rough patch. Its toys are being pulled from shelves left and right, and, maybe worse yet, for a variety of problems, from choking hazards to lead paint.

The tide started with a recall two weeks ago, and, as AdAge points out, Mattel decided to rely on the news media to deploy its heartfelt apologies. Then, more recalls and full page ads in the WSJ, NYT, and USA Today. Mattel is sorry and now it’s paying to tell you so. And if you happen to be on the website, the company put together a video address from Chairman-CEO Bob Eckert.

I have been thinking about managing disaster more than usual lately with the local response to our city’s bridge collapse. I walked around in the on a neighboring bridge the day 35W fell and was surrounded by thousands of other people who just couldn’t stay in their living rooms any longer, who needed to get out and feel like there were still other people out there. After disaster, people want to gather and feel comforted by community.

Later that night, police shut the walking bridge. It stayed closed for a week. The bridge that connects the city, where tourists take photos of our skyline and new theater, a bridge on countless runners’ and bikers’ daily routes. The city didn’t realize that, when it shut down the bridge, it did more than further complicate transportation. It closed a gathering place for healing. Where people could have left flowers or flags or notes or just paused for a minute to reflect on the intensity of what happened. There was no place for us to socialize what happened, to make sense of it and figure it into our reality.

Is Mattel’s reaction to endangering millions of people’s kids was not only recycled straight from the handbook of “how to save face when you've f-ed up,” but it’s one-way in a time when we are communal. Mattel needs its bridge, and if it does things right, it can own “recuperation.” Set up a smartly-played online community, start a news feed updating the percentage of tainted product that are reeled in, solicit input from moms and dads of places they’ve seen the recalled products. Give people a chance to feel like they can DO something.

Panic Button: Bridges Falling

Life in an age of transparency...

Other Twin Cities bridges to watch out for - via email chains and webposts, such as this from Eric Hare:

Bridges are scored on a 0-100 rating system. Bridges that are 50 or less are considered "deficient". The bridge that fell yesterday was rated 50.0 according to the list of all deficient bridges in the 7-County area

Note that there are 72 total bridges on this list.

Cross-checked that with the St Paul Bridge index and found that, aside from a few smaller bridges over ravines and so on, we have four major bridges in Saint Paul that qualify as "deficient" - shown here ranked by their rating in 2005:

26.7 Summit Ave over CP Rail Systems and Ayd Mill Rd
40.8 Interstate 35E over BNSF RR, CP Rail Systems & Cayuga St
43.4 Warner Rd EB (Reserve) over BNSF RR, CP Rail Systems, Union Pacific RR
49.5 Hwy 52 (Lafayette Rd) over Mississippi River

The Summit Ave bridge rates so low because at the time it had just been whacked by an empty container train, which ripped out a significant portion of its structure. This has been mostly fixed by now. The remaining 3 should be considered as likely to fail as the I-35W bridge.

Note: I-35E at Cayuga St is the long bridge just North of Pennsylvania. Lafayette is the only one across water (the Mississippi). Some work has been done on this, and its rating may have improved.

Crisis response

Trolling through the latest on the wheat gluten story, I came across a smart ad buy on the CBS website. Next to the headline "Pet Food Toxin Said To Be Common In China" - an issue that has shaken corporate, national, and international trust - is an ad for Tylenol's "Promise" campaign:

The online iteration of the campaign features employees sharing their promise to you, the consumer. The promises - and more importantly, the people behind them - are "another reason why you can trust the pure pain relief of Tylenol." It's an especially interesting placement given Tylenol's history with trust. [For those who don't remember, Tylenol's public image and safety reputation suffered in the 1980s due to product tampering. While the perpetrator was never caught, the scare prompted increased product saftey - including gelcaps and triple-sealed bottles.]

Other lines from the campaign:
I make Tylenol and I promise:
- If I wouldn't give it to my kids, it won't get to yours.
- I'll never forget that what we make goes into someone's body.
- That I'll never let down my family here at work or at home.

Interesting messaging given current food safety fears and increased questions for the FDA.

Dog Owners Looking For An Authority

Dog owners are looking for some answers. They're looking for an authority. And popular pooch site, Dogster has stepped up to the plate...by in paul's words "becoming a resource."

Dogster Launches RSS Feed for Pet Food Recall
To keep you updated on the latest developments in the ever-changing Menu Foods saga, Dogster has launched two RSS feeds designed to keep you and your pup in the know. The Pet Food Recall Alerts RSS feed focuses on breaking news on the pet food recalls and The Pet Food Recall News RSS feed will provide information and commentary on the pet food recall that is less time-sensitive in nature. Users can subscribe to one or both RSS feeds from Dogster's Pet Food Recall Resource Page. Here, they will also be able to view Dogster's DogBlog written by intrepid blogger Joy Ward, and find links to other organizations, including government-related agencies, that have pertinent information or are taking action related to the pet food recall.

As the story continues to unfold and multiply (China, human food, etc.) with more product recalls and a menu foods petition, it'd be nice to have a trusted source of unbiased info. (See aki's Meshly on RevolutionHealth.) Also of interest is how online has been critical to the story's development, the spread and organization of info, galvanizing of passionate communities.