The taxpayers of Ontario, through the wisdom of their provincial government, have contributed $500,000 to join an international public education campaign encouraging youth to “FLICK OFF”. This is supposed to persuade young people to turn off lights, television sets, computers, etc., and thereby help save the planet. Environment Minister Laurel Broten thought this a fine idea, so she signed on and paid up. Sane minds disagree.
Opposition parties are blasting the Ontario government for supporting a campaign aimed at getting young people to cut energy use and suggestively titled "Flick Off."
Launched Wednesday by Environment Minister Laurel Broten and British billionaire Richard Branson, the tongue-in-cheek campaign alludes to a four-letter word and the logo uses a typeface that makes the capital letters "L" and "I" look like a "U."
The campaign's website uses such phrases as "Go flick yourself," and "Are we flicked?"
On the homepage, a call to action says: "We need you to FLICK OFF, and tell everyone you know to FLICK OFF. The more you do it, the cooler it gets. The planet, that is."
NDP critic Peter Kormos says the government's endorsement of the campaign will anger parents concerned about the use of foul language by their children.
The campaign also features apparel, e.g., the charming t-shirt shown above. I have just a few questions. Did it really not occur to anyone in the environment ministry that parents might object? Are those t-shirts considered acceptable attire in school? Don’t Ontario schools prohibit garments with offensive or suggestive language?
Ms Broten says it’s all fine and, anyway, it’s not really directed toward intelligent mature people adults.
Broten said she sees nothing wrong with the government's endorsement of a campaign encouraging people to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"It's a suitable website for youth. It's a campaign directed at youth," she said.
“Suitable for youth”? If she really doesn’t know why parents and opposition MLAs are hopping mad, she needs to take a quick look at the photo of her accompanying the CBC story. Obviously, parents of young children have every reason to consider this vulgar little campaign offensive and demeaning.
MuchMusic, Canada’s poor imitation of MTV, thinks it’s swell, however. Their press release is appropriately headlined, “MuchMusic Tells Canada To FLICK OFF”. I’ll bet they do.
"FLICK OFF is a natural fit for MuchMusic - it's a perfect match for our young and savvy demographic and a great way to encourage youth to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said David Kines, VP, Music & Youth Services, CHUM Television.
News flash, Mr Kines: It’s because your audience is “savvy” that they’ll dismiss it as lame, condescending, and dumb as a bag of hammers. It’s a good thing for MuchMusic that its bottom line depends on videos by misogynistic rappers, not public education campaigns.
To make sure you get the intended message, MuchMusic’s "flick off" page features words of profundity from two “mother flickers”. One of them is a little cheesed that his lazy friends leave everything from lights to major appliances on at home all day while they’re out working.
[I]t’s a little bit of effort that goes a long way….Honestly how hard is it to turn off the television or a light? These are the same people complaining when there is a power outage in the summer…go figure.
Right! Power outages during sweltering summer heat waves will be prevented if a few lazy young men turn off lights that are not in use. “Go figure” indeed.
And then there’s the “flick off” website. It’s a real gem. The top of the home page features a digital clock counting the seconds (!) until time runs out in less than ten years.
"We have at most ten years—not ten years to decide upon action, but ten years to alter fundamentally the trajectory of global greenhouse emissions.” Jim Hansen, NASA.
Yikes. Time is running out. If we don’t curb greenhouse gases that cause global warming in a hurry, global warming is going to be a runaway train. Rising sea levels, floods, droughts, species extinction, tropical diseases—they’re going to become increasingly disastrous, and we won’t be able to stop them. Hundreds of millions of people are going to lose their homes.
Compare that overheated rhetoric with this message elsewhere at the site.
[L]ast week John Baird resorted to financial fear mongering to defend Canada's lack of action on meeting its obligations. In essence, Baird says it's either the economy or Kyoto.
“Fear mongering”? Fie on anyone who resorts to such a nasty and underhanded tactic.
The claim that teenagers and young people will find this idiotic campaign “edgy” or clever and therefore appealing shows how out of touch Ontario civil service mandarins are.
All in all, “flick off” looks like a worthy successor to the wildly successful “one tonne challenge”.
h/t: Glenn Penner at Persecuted Church Weblog
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