‘Cut through’ on Sustainability can cut both ways
My socials are full of people pointing out that 100,000 people marching through London under the banner of Restore Nature Now got very little press coverage, whereas two Just Stop Oil protesters spraying Stonehenge with orange cornflour hit the headlines. “There’s no point in being nice, no-one listens, so we need to wreck stuff to be noticed.” is the conclusion many seem to be taking from this.
Whoa, Nelly!
Do you know of anybody who watched the attack on Stonehenge and shouted “yes, that’s it, now a beloved ancient monument has been vandalised I’m convinced. I’m going to sell the car, go vegan and stop flying”? Can you even conceive of anybody reacting in that way?
Most people’s reaction was “Bloody hell, not Stonehenge!” The only people I have seen supporting the protest were already convinced of the threat of climate change – and were very small in number.
We need to remember that publicity is not an end in itself. To solve our environmental problems, we need change and change means persuading people who ‘don’t get it’ to change their behaviour or decisions. Pissing off these people is more likely to entrench their views.
But can you be nice and get cut through? Yes, but it is extremely difficult. When I had Lucy Siegle on the podcast to discuss public engagement, we marvelled at the lasting effect that a few minutes of Blue Planet II had on our attitudes to ocean plastic. Both Saturday’s Nature march and the Stonehenge stunt were preaching to the choir in quite different ways, whereas David Attenborough reached out to ordinary people.
If we are serious about change, we need to find similar buttons to press with the general public. Reach out.