Get foolish about climate change

Caitlan Reeg Apr 1, 2009

TEXT OF STORY

Renita Jablonski: Environmentalists also took part in today’s London protest. The U.K.’s Together campaign spends most of its time issuing dire warnings about climate change. But today, its message is to get a little . . . foolish. From the Marketplace Sustainability Desk, Caitlan Carroll explains.


Caitlan Carroll: Last year, the campaign dubbed April 1st “Energy Wasting Day.” It introduced the holiday with a YouTube video featuring Dan Power — a pot-bellied poster child for the anti-eco lifestyle.

Tom runs over cyclists in his big car . . .

Dan Power: Check this out, loser!

And likes to run the dryer to warm up just one garment: his underwear.

Power: Mmm — toasty undercrackers.

The video attracted more than half a million viewers to the Together campaign Web site. And it spawned a Dan Power fan club. Now there are ringtones, T-shirts and for 2009, a music video.

Campaign manager Tom Gribbin says humor drums up an audience for the gloomy topic of global warming.

Tom Gribbin: We should try and have a bit of fun and we should try and make climate change sexy if we can, I suppose.

But Radar Research marketing analyst Marissa Gluck isn’t sure if sexy sustains:

Marissa Gluck: So you know, the question is can taking this approach lead to longer-term behavioral changes?

Or at least some pocket change for the charity?

Dan Power is out with a new music video. The campaign gets a few cents every time it’s downloaded.

I’m Caitlan Carroll for Marketplace.

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