Ken Green’s post earlier got me thinking again about the Goracle’s marketing gurus. As I noted parenthetically on March 19 — and who knows? it may have been that very day when he first got the meme from his marketing team — Gore has indeed embraced his new alarmist brand with gusto:
[I thought that was a buzzword record, until I saw Al Gore’s on-the-street interview with the New York Daily News yesterday following his flying visit with Mayor Bloomberg. The Goracle used the term “climate crisis” five times in the time it took him to walk from City Hall to his waiting SUV — a crash re-branding of “global warming” no doubt necessitated by . . . well, see Chris Horner’s piece below.]
The long frigid winter having made “global warming” a marketing liability, you can almost hear the ad men now:
“Talk to me, people: we need a new buzzword. [BEEP] Cheryl, bring my sweater down to the conference room — it’s freezing in here. Johnson, what have you got?”
“I thought they were using ‘climate change,’ sir?”
“Dammit, that’s the client’s stupid idea. It’s not nearly scary enough. Smithers, talk to me.”
“Um, how about ‘climate crisis,’ boss?”
“Nah, too alliterative, too clicky. . . . Waitaminit, I think I’ve got it! Wait for it . . . ‘Climate Crisis!’ ”
”That’s brilliant, sir. The perfect konzept.”
“Thanks, Johnson. Have a cigar. [BEEP] Cheryl, get the client on the phone — I want him before he meets with the mayor.”
I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t all a little transparent. Perhaps it is my naive trust that the American people are not as stupid as they think they are. Sure, there are plenty of people who get swayed by Madison Avenue. That’s why they’re paid the big bucks. But this particular intellectual product Gore is selling is a very expensive one, a luxury item. And people tend to value consistency — or shall we say, brand stability — in their luxury items. I think it remains a tough sell.
The synergy between his Alliance for Climate Protection and the Obama campaign is remarkable, though. The “I can’t do it alone, but together, WE can” shtick.
And you gotta love that upside em used for the double-u in their “we” icon, that tight little green circle (millions strong!) that’s everywhere on the ACP site. Because, you know, eventually, everyone will come around to join the movement — we will include me. That stinks of Madison Avenue. Doubtless, when you become a devotee, you get a little green-circle button or t-shirt or hemp tote bag to signify the depth (cha-ching) of your commitment — all of which goodies will be available soon in their carbon-neutral store (as soon as they figure out how to make it carbon-neutral, presumably).
Yes, Gore already has the press persuaded, and the press has an inordinate sway over politicians, who view the former as proxies for public opinion. But I think this is another one of those many topics in which the press are way out of step with the American people. I think the more people know about how Al Gore and his investment partners stand to financially benefit from his carbon-policy ideas, the more questions people will ask – and the less we will have to fear from this tax-free eco-industry propaganda.