Green Cause For Effect
Stuart Miller
Multichannel News
April 20, 2008
While cable
networks across the spectrum have been busy trying to
find ways to generate green programming consistent with
their brands, even channels that can’t regularly find a
good content fit are devoting time, energy, and money to
the issue through green cause campaigns. In most cases,
they are using their online platforms to inform and
encourage action in ways that don’t always work in
entertainment programs.
Nickelodeon has long been a leader in ambitious
pro-social initiatives — in 1993, it ran a “Plan It for
the Planet” special featuring then-Vice President Al
Gore — so it should come as no surprise that its
campaign, “The Big Green Help,” is a long-term,
multilayered effort. (It is modeled on “The Big Help”
drives that Nick ran in the 1990s.)
The campaign has four major themes:
Slow the Flow — teaching kids about minimizing the waste
of energy and natural resources;
Recycle and Pre-Cycle — not only encouraging recycling
but also the use of recyclable items;
Give It the Third Degree — teaching kids to use less
heat in the winter and less air conditioning in the
summer;
Grow the Green — fostering the planting of trees and the
preservation of natural resources.
Senior vice president of public affairs Jean Margaret
Smith said the project was based on a study done in
conjunction with the Pew Center on Global Climate Change
revealing that the vast majority of kids 8 to 14 believe
they can stop global warming, though half of them were
not sure what steps they could take. The study also
found that while 33% of kids and 25% of parents feel
responsible for the environment, 62% of families drink
bottled water daily, while 45% still do not recycle.
“We really need to connect the dots,” Smith said, adding
that while most adults in the survey felt world leaders
were responsible for transforming society on this issue,
kids believed it was up to individuals. “We need to show
how they can do something about it and how they can
engage in the here and now.”
Smith added the campaign will be about more than simply
doling out takeaway tidbits of information.
“We want to go beyond the tip of the day and really
explain the issue,” she said. “We want kids to be
thought leaders at home and in the community.”
April 22, 2008 is Earth DayThe “Help” will begin in
April — tied to Earth Day — with public service
announcements, online information and games and
grassroots activities geared toward helping kids take
direct action. Over time the network will also work
environmental messages into all of its series, Smith
added.
Many activities will be partnered with national and
local environmental or youth-oriented organizations. In
April, Wal-Mart Stores, for example, will distribute
over 1 million seed packs with secret green codes that
can be used to play a SpongeBob Squarepants-themed
environmentally oriented game.
After six months of “seeding the campaign and creating
an identity with the major themes of what kids can do
and why,” Smith said, the campaign will reach a peak in
November with what Nick bills as the “first global
multiplayer online green game for kids.”
In the game, individuals or teams try to “virtually”
lower CO2 levels and are challenged to pledge volunteer
hours that will help produce the same result in the real
world.