33. Activism consists of intentional action to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. This action is in support of, or opposition to, one side of an often controversial argument. (source: Wikipedia)
new internet memes born here everyday, I get to watch, but this isn’t bout reddit
It all started with greenpeace
Who wanted to stop the japanese humpback whaling expeditions
To personify the movement, they hosted an online poll where visitors could vote on the name of this whale that would symbolize their struggle as they tagged and tracked it on its migration
The persian word for immortal
There were about a dozen very cultured, thoughtful names. Divine power of the ocean in a polynesian language
And then there was this. Mister splashy pants
And then there was this. Mister splashy pants
And then there was this. Mister splashy pants
Someone on reddit found this poll and submitted it to our website, suggesting that everyone vote for what was obviously the best name.
The 5 of us working on reddit were campaigning pretty heavily for the new name, so we took our logo
And changed it to show our unanimous support for mister splashy pants
This quickly spread around the web, sites like Fark and
This quickly spread around the web, sites like Fark and
99%!
The voting ended. How did Mister Spalshy Pants do?
99%!
They ran the extended the voting -This only inspired the Internet,
remember how we changed out logO?
We changed it again. This time it was Fightin’ Splashy.
Fans created facebook applications and groups
People could watch mister splashy pants dance on their screens!
99%!
The lesson here?
but there’s more!
Greenpeace turned this into a big marketing effort, but making merchandise and even e-cards
People could watch mister splashy pants dance on their screens!
The japanese govt called off the wahling expedition that year
The whales were saved.
And happy about it
Not because they’re full of whale lovers, they just got behind this meme because it was genuinely community driven
But because they had participated in something as a community, and this is a generation of creators, who all want a hand in doing something, even if it’s just upvoting a silly headline
And this is the lesson, not just for nonprofits looking to make a splash, but for anyone looking to succeed with a viral campaign online
The connectivity of the internet means you can reach more people for less with your message than ever before. You don’t need a big budget! Splashy cost Greenpeace nothing!
The cost of production is so cheap, you can just continue to try until something hits.
but one thing should guide your decision making
Create something for users to connect with and get out of the way