Shaping Youth BETA BLOG

Feb. 27, 2009 Not sure how many kids will tune into a :30 TV spot created by Academy Award-winning directors Joel and Ethan Coen doing a riff on Air Fresheners to “come clean about dirty coal,” but it’s sure easy for kids to ‘get it’ that there’s an elephant in the living room. (isn’t he cute? He’s not in the ad, I found him on GumTree in London, but he makes the point, yes?)

When it comes to the use of the phrase ‘clean coal’ the elephant is a handy visual to add to any counter-marketing campaign, especially when seeding the use of viral videos for informal learning. It’s one of our  many ‘fight fire with fire’  tactics at Shaping Youth in the spirited style of Free Range Studios culture jamming.

After all, kids need to learn how to discern greenwashing and recognize that healthy sounding names like the ACCCE The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity are NOT often as they seem. (a handy media literacy tidbit for when kids get to voting age with confusing ballot propositions!) (more…)

Earth Day is upon us April 22, and helpful links to kids activities abound. At WWF, kids are out to make change, literally.

Worthy nonprofits are finally getting the hang of digital media’s marketing power, and kids are making change on the planet in all kinds of global and local ways.

Unicef’s Voices of Youth programs like the Media Magic digest, Biovision Forum and J8 Junior Summit have made their way into virtual worlds like Teen Second Life’s Global Kids Digital Initiative…Yet sometimes it seems these creative, innovative efforts are eclipsed by some common slamdunk corporate media tactics. Example?

Two consistent draws for youth (animals and eco) are being used to “MAKE CHANGE” with a “free recyclable globe bank & fundraising kit” from World Wildlife Fund, marketed online to segue into actions offline.

Unicef may have started the ‘Trick or Treat’ bit ages ago, but now kids are stumping for Mother Earth using the ol’ premium incentive played out in the digital arena, circling back to grassroots efforts door to door.

Old idea, new repurposing! Once the bastion of corporate marketers, digital media is fair game for savvy nonprofits ready to leverage all the ‘usual suspects’ in kids’ digital marketing for the planet.

E-Cards. Forwards. Freebies. Viral movies like BioDaversity Code. Youth Forums & Blogs. Interactive quizzes and games. And now…do it yourself fundraising. Smart. Very, very, smart. (more…)