Emotion

Some students in Bob Sutton’s class on “Creating Infectious Engagement” wanted to persuade people to upgrade, not replace, their computers, for the sake of the environment. But where’s the emotion? Where’s the story? Well, voila: “Love the one you’re with.” With a star turn by Dan Wilson as the computer. (Doesn’t he worry about typecasting?)

I recently did a workshop with a group that’s working to remind people that racism still exists in America and must be actively fought. They pointed out that many people have, in a sense, declared victory on race — after all, haven’t the racist elements of the law been expunged? Haven’t most of the overtly cruel acts of racism stopped? Don’t we have a frontrunner for President who is black? Yes to all, but as this group pointed out, that’s not equivalent to the end of racism.

Let’s face it, this is a tough issue to get people to confront. It’s a touchy subject. Most people walk into the discussion with pre-formed strong feelings, one way or the other. So how do you get the message across, to a resistant audience, that “We’re not done yet”?

Take a look at a video called “A Girl Like Me,” directed by Kiri Davis, that provides an unforgettable reminder that racism isn’t dead. This is the most moving piece of communication I’ve seen this year. (Unfortunately, the mind-blowing bit is buried in the middle of the video. My advice is to fast-forward to the 3:20 mark and watch for about 1.5-2 min.) As you’ll see, we’re not done yet.

Check out this video. Don’t want to give anything away. It’s got quite a visceral punch. (via one of Chip’s students at Stanford)

When you give to Mercy Corps, they follow up with an email that gives you a concrete vision of how you’ve helped. For instance: “Your support of $40 provides a Zimbabwean family clean drinking water for two years.”

Lots of charities have figured out that, in soliciting donations, they need to anchor abstract amounts of money in real-world descriptions (e.g., “Adopt a goat for $60,” “$200 pays for the translation expenses in a human-rights field visit,” etc.). I like how Mercy Corps uses the same principle after the fact. You get the initial satisfaction of giving, and then Mercy Corps follows up and says, effectively, “Thanks for your gift — and, by the way, a Zimbabwean family thanks you, too.” Nicely done.

There are 6 principles of sticky ideas, and folks, Canoe Man has all 6. It’s no wonder why this bizarro tale has captivated the UK public.

Robert M brought it to our attention with this introduction: “Man vanishes at sea in 2002, only his battered kayak is found. Wife and two sons mourn, then wife claims life insurance 13 months later. Wife sells house and moves to Panama at the beginning of 2007. In Nov 2007 man walks into a police station, claiming to be the missing person who has lost his memory. Then, a photo turns up which shows man and wife in 2006 in Panama talking to a property developer. Sons are outraged because they were under the impression their father was dead.” And there’s more uncovered every day…

If someone doesn’t have the movie rights to this saga, I’m gonna make the first bid. In the meantime, go kill an hour and read up on the whole thing.