Action before Perfection
Should we be hasty in criticising Iceland’s advert raising awarenes of the Orangutan?
Those of you who read my article https://bit.ly/2qWJwg2 may have also read articles and comments that dismiss and/or point out the flaws in Iceland’s marketing campaign.
However valid these points are, I believe that there is still room to congratulate Iceland for raising awareness of a very REAL issue. If we all waited until we were perfect before being allowed to use our voice and call out each other then I believe progression would grind to a halt. If Iceland complicated its message by including all the facts, very few would listen. Furthermore, Iceland still used its marketing campaign to raise awareness of the Orangutan and has started meaningful rhetoric.
If the Iceland advert has passed you by so far, here is a link to it courtesy of YouTube: http://bit.ly/2zXEp3f.
Some of the reasons people are giving for dismissing Iceland’s advert seem to me as being:
1) palm oil isn’t the ‘baddy’ and is a good source of vegetable oil which we need;
2) cattle ranches, timber and soy are responsible for more deforestation than palm oil plantations;
3) it’s just a marketing ploy by Iceland when they have other unethical practices/brands.
Whilst all these reasonings may be fair, surely the point is that Iceland is raising awareness of a REAL issue and that should be a good overriding consideration here?
Of course Iceland is advertising its brand! What advert is not manipulating us in some shape or form? We all know that, don’t we? And, yes, Iceland may be a brand that is far from perfect but which ones are perfect?
There is always ‘more’ to a story; how much can you fit in an advert that lasts less than two minutes? Iceland are still using their advertising budget to raise awareness of a very real issue. Surely baby steps in being environmentally conscious when purchasing goods is better than no steps at all?
Perhaps it’ll have such an impact Iceland will incentivise themselves to look at their other practices and will become a wholly ethical business– maybe this is just one step of a much bigger strategy for Iceland! If Iceland didn’t take some sort of step in the right direction then a vision of reducing their environmental impact to be minimum would be impossible. With this step, they have made it a possibility.
It is true, the environmental answer isn’t a simple one but is that reason for us to give up? For Iceland to focus its advert on palm oil is creating a single message that us ‘simple humans’ can latch onto. It educates us of a world issue that many people have no clue about and it gives us one action to do – be mindful of palm oil in our products.
It’s got people talking about the very REAL plight of the Orangutan whose habitat is being destroyed at an alarming rate due to human interference. Yes, illegal logging for timber has a huge impact and in my experience Non Governmental Organisations (NGO)in Borneo (Yayorin for example) are also fighting that cause. NGO’s work with locals to educate and support them to get out of an incredibly stressful and dangerous illegal logging industry by showing them alternatives to create incomes to sustainably support their families.
With regards to clearing land for cattle/animal feed, it is alarming how many resources go into feeding the animals for people to eat. This is a world issue and is a long standing debate with which most people do not want to engage; just ask the vegan community! Would it have raised the profile of Orangutan’s if Iceland had used this angle? How would they have been able to attach themselves to this aspect of the plight of Orangutan? Would it have been better if Iceland did nothing because is too big for them to take a stand on all the details behind the plight of the Orangutan? I think not.
When too much detail is given, people feel overwhelmed and switch off completely! when too many alternatives are given, when plights of different animals are used against each other what happens? We don’t turn vegan, we aren’t motivated to buy meat, fruit and veg from local organic sources, we don’t check if our fish is from a sustainable source, we don’t question brands using unethical practices, we don’t buy brands free from animal cruelty, we don’t use our reusable coffee cups and bags to reduce plastic, we don’t think of the cost to the earth or to the next generation – all we do is think in that moment and of fulfilling our own family’s needs.
I know this is true because that feeling of being overwhelmed as the issues are ‘so big’ paralysed me into inaction for many years. And from the comments people are leaving, you can see it in them too – they are disengaging from a very real issue because it’s getting too complicated. As people have pointed out when criticising Iceland, actually boycotting palm oil is unlikely to have much of an impact and ending palm oil as a source is not the answer BUT the impact comes in the education and small steps that consumers make in DEMANDING that businesses deliver their marketing promises in a healthy and sustainable way.
We don’t need to be perfect before we have a voice!! Instead let’s use our imperfect voices to call out each other and support each other as to how we can be a little bit better every day rather than criticising each other for not being perfect or for not getting everything right!
Rather than people being down on Iceland, I suggest we congratulate:
its #bravery in stepping out from the ‘norm’ at Christmas;
its #perspective on not being perfect before it makes a stand;
its #social responsibility in owning a very real issue;
its #perseverance in getting the message out their;
its #appreciation of beauty of Orangutan and their natural environment;
its #creativity of broadcasting such an important message.
However small and however useless my tiny steps may seem, they are steps in the right direction. If others join together in those steps we could create a ‘tsunami of change’. Afterall, if a butterfly wing can, then small steps from 7 billion humans on this Earth definitely can!
If you want to know more about the character strengths mentioned above, try this 8 minute clip: http://bit.ly/StoSSofC