Halloween: re-branded and re-done

Happy Hallowe'en! Or should I say Happy Samhain? Depending on your religious beliefs and whether or not you were born these last two centuries, the answer may be different.

Samhain is the end of the Druidic year when the Druids believed that the lines between the living and the dead were blurred and souls of the dead would return and roam around with the living. Feasts were held in honour of the dead but, the dead weren't mourned, they celebrated in memory of their lives.

With the increase in popularity of Christianity in the 800s, Christian leaders began looking for ways to convert the pagan population. The best way to do this? Re-branding pagan holidays to incorporate Christian ideals.

First, All Soul's Day was created so that the people could remember their dead and have a feast in their honor. Sound familiar? Only, this feast was a Christian one, with praying to the appropriate saints included.

It was a brilliant move on the part of the Christians! Re-branding Samhain to Hallowe'en was a smart way to bring over reluctant followers who still wanted to hold on to the old ways, not to mention it created a sense of history for Christianity in Ireland when the religion was new to the area. I guess you could call Christians the original brand managers.

Happy Samhain everyone!

Wal-mart insists "only the small survive"

I was watching tv last night when a commercial for Wal-mart came on and I nearly killed myself laughing. The general gist of the commercial is that Wal-mart is lowering their prices on the majority of items in response to the current economic crunch being faced around the globe. What had me laughing so hard and wondering at the same time who forgot to proof this commercial was the line recited by a manager to an employee "only the small survive."

At best, this can be considered to be a slip of the tongue, as Wal-mart has been hounded for the past while over its tendency to out-compete smaller, locally owned businesses. A google search of "walmart small business" results in over 3.5 million hits, most of which criticize the company for under-pricing their items in order to force the closure of competitors and ensure a monopoly on the market. At worst, this off-hand comment can be seen as antagonistic and arrogant, coming from a company that is so large and successful at establishing itself in areas despite local protests, that Wal-mart comes across as being callous and a bit spiteful.

Wal-mart has been the butt of many jokes, the best of which, in my opinion, was from the Onion in 2005. Lo and behold! PR is actually mentioned! It might be time for Wal-mart to take PR a little more seriously.

Thusfar, only a few people have picked up on the "only the small survive" commercial and written about it, I suspect it's only a matter of time until Wal-mart's corporate image is tarnished a little more with this most recent slip up.

This begs the question: who was asleep at the PR wheel and why didn't anyone notice the iceberg they were sailing towards?

Banrock Station: the environmentally aware wine

I was surfing around on the Ducks Unlimited site when I came across a list of their partners and was surprised to find one that didn't seem to fit. It was for Banrock Station, a winery in Australia that so happens to make my drink of choice.

It turns out that Banrock Station prides themselves on being an environmentally friendly and aware brand. To date, they've put $5,000,000 AUD towards conservation, area rehabilitation, and wetland restoration.

Banrock Station focuses on wetlands in particular because they are an integral part of the biosphere, particularly in Australia where over 50% of them have been destroyed. The winery has even gone so far as to restore their main vineyard back to a wetland and have added guided tours and an educational centre focusing on the importance of wetlands.

I have to raise a glass and toast Banrock Station for choosing a seemingly-unrelated cause and doing so well with it. Right down to their company welcome page, Banrock Station makes it clear that their dedication to the environment is one of the fundamental principles that the winery was founded upon, instead of the company following the current "green" trend.

Cheers!

Youth + politics = oil + water?

As you may be aware, yours truly participated in Me to We day this past week. I was thrilled to find out that despite being a volunteer at a booth outside of the Ricoh arena, I was still allowed to watch the majority of the speakers perform. I was even more thrilled to find out that Justin Trudeau would be speaking and that I would have time to stop and listen to him.

First of all, understand that he has a presence and it's an even bigger one in person than on television. He is absolutely mind-blowing to listen to in person! Justin managed to hook me into his speech (see clip 6) right from the beginning:

"As my good friend John Turner, former prime minister, just said: 'young people don't tend to get involved enough in politics.' And for me it's easy to say 'it's young people's fault not to get involved,' but more I think it's politics' fault not doing enough to bring in young people."

I did listen to his entire speech, but that first point of his got me thinking. It's true that youth aren't really involved in politics. I'm only getting into it now myself because I am of an age where I'll be taking all of the big life steps soon (e.g. buying a house, getting married) and the way that the country is run will affect me more profoundly than it previously did. When I first went to university, I saw politics as something that you were interested when you were older because there was no way that any politician would've cared about my opinion.

After listening to Justin's speech, I realize that I was probably right at that point, however students entering university now thinking what I did are probably wrong. As the baby boomers age, the political arena is going to undergo a drastic change and (hopefully) be more youth-friendly.

The beginnings of these changes can be seen today: Justin Trudeau was elected MP in the Montreal riding of Papineau on October 14th. Today's youth will be looking to Justin to increase awareness of the issues close to their hearts in the political arena and at the country-wide level. Justin Trudeau is a well known activist for many different issues, in particular the empowerment of youth. I believe that Justin is just the man to be getting youth more involved with politics and how the country is run.

Justin is a new breed of politician who listens to all generations and is more than willing to dive in and get his hands dirty. All too often, I've felt that my representative didn't represent my ideas and views and that I probably wouldn't be listened to because I am so young. Justin Trudeau's ideas of "building personal connections" is exactly what I think politics should be all about. Hopefully he can spread his ideals around in the political arena and they finally get picked up by the other powers that be.

Me to We day 2008

Free the Children's second annual Me to We day was held today at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto. It was my first time volunteering at/attending Me to We day and I've gotta say that I was impressed. For such a large-scale event, it was very well organized. My volunteer training the night before was a little rushed, but I realized the next morning that this was a necessity and that the best way to learn was on the "job".

Over 8000 students came from all over North America to listen to Justin Trudeau, Michel Chikwanine, Mia Farrow, and other speak, as well as musical guests Crash Parallel, Sarah Mclachlan, and others. The main message of the conference centres around youth empowerment: age doesn't matter - you can make a difference. It was definitely inspiring to listen to the variety of speakers that Free the Children had lined up for the day, ranging from the political (John Turner) to the emotionally-gripping and awe-inspiring (Michel Chikwanine).

Me to We day succeeded in motivating me to think about Free the Children as more than just another charity for helping those in need. Don't get me wrong, but there are a lot of charities out there helping people in need by one method or another. Me to We got me thinking about Free the Children as something that will help both people in need and the people doing the helping. So often, youth hear about the terrible things that are going on in the world and feel unable to do anything about it. Me to We day proves them wrong by showing them how to act and how to make a difference.

Bravo, Free the Children. I'm looking forward to next year.

Gumming up The Biggest Loser

I usually make it a point not to watch reality tv. Most of the shows are either really obviously scripted or just so ridiculous that I can't take it seriously, however I have to admit that I've recently acquired a guilty pleasure: The Biggest Loser. It's a feel-good kind of show that you can actually believe in. Or so I thought.

About three episodes into this season, I noticed Jillian (my favourite trainer and all-around hard ass) pushing a new Motorola product on one of the contestants as a workout aid. I figured it was probably a good idea, afterall the product is a lot like an ipod only it has a built-in belt clip. What's not to like? Or so I thought.

Last week's episode involved a painfully-obvious attempt at selling gum. Not any gum though, low cal gum! Low cal gum that can reduce your sweet craving! Sounds good, except that's pretty much verbatim for what one of the contestants said. I have to start questioning, is Extra writing a script now? This "candid" moment brought to you by Extra! Cringe-worthy.

I have no issues with product placement within a show, but when it's obvious, it gets really annoying. Annoying to the point where I won't buy the product because they're just trying too hard and I have to wonder what's wrong with the product that it can't be sold in a commercial. I know that associating low cal gum with The Biggest Loser makes sense from a brand values perspective, I have to wonder if this helps the gum or hurts the show. My vote is on hurting.

Call me crazy - I love mental illness (awareness)!

I happened upon a blog this weekend being advertised by the Toronto Star that took me by surprise. The surprising thing was that this blog is about mental health and Sandy Naiman, the author, talks openly about her battles with mania.

I am in love with this blog! I love that Sandy takes these issues that are still taboo in society and talks about them openly. Even the title of the blog "Coming out crazy" creates a certain impression and sense of intrigue. Sandy explains that admitting to someone that you have a mental illness is similar to a gay or lesbian coming out of the closet 20 years ago.

There's this stigma associated with mental illness that only certain people will suffer from it or happens for a reason and it's never really possible to be fully cured or sane. Even the site for the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health's National Mental Illness Awareness Week has a kind of tone to it that, although positive, makes it seem that mental illness is a cross that you have to bear and that you need a lot of help and medication before you can "lead a productive and fulfilling life."



Interestingly enough, Canada Post is the main sponsor of Mental Illness Awareness Week. First of all, this brings "going postal" to mind and all of the associated negative stigmas. I have to wonder at Canada Post's motivation behind sponsoring this campaign. Admittedly, Canada Post is the first major Canadian corporation to adopt mental health as their pet cause, however I have to question whether or not this is the right company to promote mental health. Mail service has a negative association with mental health and CAMIMH is almost trying to re-brand mental illness to break away from the negative stereotypes and make it more personal and easier to relate to.

Fish to fry in Ontario

I was flipping through the Toronto Star, when I came across a short blurb about the Ringwood Fish Culture Station. Briefly mentioned is how the government opened the station in 1982 but was forced to cut funding in 2006. Not mentioned, is why the government opened the station.

During the 1980s, there was growing concern of the rapidly declining stocks of Canadian fish. In response to this, the government started to fund hatcheries in hopes of bolstering the declining populations and even re-introducing species to areas where they had been extirpated. Fisheries opened all over the country and the government kept pouring money into them, until budget cuts forced an end to the spending spree. What the government failed to inform that public was that the money spent on hatcheries might as well have been thrown into the water in hopes of a dam springing up.

Fish instinctively return to their hatching site for spawning, thus hatchery-born fish never stray very far away from where they were born, so it would be impossible to repopulate areas with hatchery-born fish unless the hatchery was near to the desired site. Unfortunately, most sites are so polluted or being used for other commercial purposes that setting up a hatchery there isn't possible. Also, because the fish are raised in artificial conditions, they are unable to attract a mate from the wild population because they haven't learned the proper mate attraction rituals.

As if it wasn't enough having the government pouring money into hatcheries, the article goes on to proudly state that the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and the Toronto Sportsmen's Show raise $50,000 annually in order to keep the Ringwood facility running. My quibbles with this do no stem from the organizations that support the facility. On the contrary, I'm pro-fishing and pro-hunting. What does irritate me about this article is that the OFAH is using the fundraising as a PR gesture and it's an incredibly useless one at that. These associations should be focusing more on the conservation of key breeding habitat instead of funding breeding programs that have been shown, through scientific research, to be ineffective at best or harmful to the natural populations at worst. At least if their money is being spent on endeavours that can bring scientifically-proved benefits to the species, it can bring positive attention for both parties, which is something they could use considering the controversial nature of OFAH.