{"id":688,"date":"2009-02-06T11:18:45","date_gmt":"2009-02-06T16:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2009\/02\/06\/video-contest-your-choice-vs-the-expert-choice\/"},"modified":"2009-02-06T16:14:15","modified_gmt":"2009-02-06T21:14:15","slug":"video-contest-your-choice-vs-the-expert-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2009\/02\/06\/video-contest-your-choice-vs-the-expert-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"Video Contest: Your Choice vs. the “Expert” Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who is right when a national environmental group holds a video competition and the public and the “experts” disagree on who should win?<\/p>\n

At the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, the jury of film experts chose Forty Shades of Blue<\/em> as the best dramatic film.\u00a0 The Audience Award went to Hustle & Flow<\/em>.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know which was a better film, but I do know Hustle & Flow<\/em> went on to earn $20 million in wide release in the U.S., while Forty Shades of Blue<\/em> topped out at $75,000.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure it doesn\u2019t always happen that way, but it goes to show that the experts don\u2019t always know what will succeed in the marketplace of ideas.<\/p>\n

We at Environmental Defense Fund just finished something a bit like a film festival — a competition that challenged participants to make a 30 second ad that explains how capping greenhouse gas pollution will help cure our national addition to oil.\u00a0 This week we announced two winners, one selected by our staff and another chosen by thousands of voters online.\u00a0 Like at Sundance, the voters and the judges chose different winners\u2026in fact, the video chosen by us “experts” came in dead last<\/em> in the online voting.<\/p>\n

I thought it might be interesting to explain our decision and see what others think.<\/p>\n

To begin with, I\u2019ll admit we have no idea if we\u2019re right.\u00a0 We got about 100 entries to the contest, many of them very high quality.\u00a0 We chose five finalists for the online competition and any one of them was worthy of winning.\u00a0\u00a0 Our criteria had less to do with expert filmmaking than picking the video that most vividly and memorably explained a somewhat complex message.\u00a0 (The competition, as you might guess, was conceived when gas was $4 a gallon.\u00a0 But don\u2019t kid yourself, worldwide demand will return with the economic recovery and $4 will seem like a bargain before too long.)<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been trying to create clear messages on this topic for a while, with varying degrees of success. But we have learned some things along the way. The most important lesson, perhaps, is this one: Despite the millions of Americans who care passionately about global warming, making real progress hinges on winning over the folks who don\u2019t have the time to focus on the details.\u00a0 That means our job is to first get their attention and, second, to transmit a simple and compelling message.<\/p>\n

This task is even more difficult because the only policy solution that guarantees the emissions cuts we need, a strong cap on greenhouse gases, is a regulatory process<\/em> — and the public has little time to focus on that level of detail. People may care deeply about the outcomes \u2013 clean energy, new jobs, less pollution, less oil dependence \u2013 but it\u2019s hard to get them to give a lot of thought to how we should achieve those ends. Try explaining that the big money and innovation for clean energy will come from spurring the private sector through a cap, and even some Congressional staff start thinking about their fantasy football lineup.<\/p>\n

Back to the winners. Our online voters chose Thinking Cap, a great spot that clearly explains how a cap will spark innovation.<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/p>\n

It uses simple graphics to show that the cap will spur investment in clean energy and result in less money flowing overseas for oil.\u00a0 And it\u2019s got the memorable image of a “thinking cap”.\u00a0 Even before the results of the vote were in, A Siegel said “we have a winner”<\/a> with “Thinking Cap,” impressed by its clear coverage of the full range of issues involved.<\/p>\n

So why didn\u2019t we pick it as our winner?\u00a0 Well, we chose it as a finalist because we agree it\u2019s very well done.\u00a0 But there\u2019s a difference between being clear to climate activists who are concentrating on videos they\u2019ve chosen to watch on their computer, and a spot that\u2019s effective with Americans far less familiar with the topic.\u00a0 For them, it will be one of many commercials flying by on TV, only a handful of which will really capture their attention.\u00a0 In other words, we think “Thinking Cap” might work best for those who are already paying attention and care about this issue.<\/p>\n

The video we chose, “Cursing Cap,” had two qualities that really stood out to us.<\/p>\n

<\/embed>
\nFirst, it immediately captures the attention of even the most casual viewer because it begins with a close-up of a man cursing (bleeped out, of course).\u00a0 Second, it employs an ingenious analogy to explain the carbon cap: the character in the ad says he made himself pay a dollar every time he cursed, in an effort to cut down.\u00a0 And that caused him to think up new, cleaner ways to express his frustrations — like “Walrus breath!”\u00a0 We think an analogy like that is a vivid and memorable way to explain a cap and might even get it stuck the minds of those we need to reach.None of that, of course, means we\u2019re right and the online voters are wrong.\u00a0 “Thinking Cap,” or one of the other three excellent finalists<\/a>, might be the most effective ad.<\/p>\n

In fact, we are planning to use a mix of these spots on television to help convince the public (and their representatives in DC) that we need a new direction in our energy and environmental policies.\u00a0 Because, as President Obama said in reiterating his support for a cap, “delay is no longer an option.”<\/p>\n

Are you surprised by our choice?\u00a0 Since we\u2019re now making decision about what ads to put on the air, I\u2019d be interested to hear reaction to all the videos.<\/p>\n

Update:<\/strong> A Siegel shared more thoughts on the winners<\/a> over on his blog. Thanks!<\/p>\n

Keith Gaby is the communications director of our national climate campaign. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who is right when a national environmental group holds a video competition and the public and the “experts” disagree on who should win? At the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, the jury of film experts chose Forty Shades of Blue as the best dramatic film.\u00a0 The Audience Award went to Hustle & Flow.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVideo Contest: Your Choice vs. the "Expert" Choice - Climate 411<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2009\/02\/06\/video-contest-your-choice-vs-the-expert-choice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Video Contest: Your Choice vs. the "Expert" Choice - Climate 411\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Who is right when a national environmental group holds a video competition and the public and the “experts” disagree on who should win? 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