Worldlog Week 21 – 2009

We are back from New York! What an incredible experience to see such a mixed group of people who feel inspired to organize a Veggie Pride Parade in order to bring home to others the need for a more vegetable-based diet.

Born in Paris, the Veggie Pride Parade has now taken root in Los Angeles and New York. See below for more photos of the New York Veggie Parade and the showing of Meat the Truth, the climate film from the Scientific Bureau of the Party for the Animals.

This week I’d like to continue my series on setting up a party in your own country.

I get e-mails from many people saying that animal rights and the need for a more vegetable-based diet have not really taken root in their own countries. This is an area that needs to change. I have already pointed out the possibility of subtitling the film “Meat the Truth” in your own language. Indeed, this is currently being done in a number of countries.

Another way of finding and bringing together like-minded people is the viral movie. The Internet is a great way of reaching many, many people in a short time with a message spread via viral movies. These are funny or informative short films that people forward to one another, until they spread across the Internet like a kind of virus.
A wonderfully successful example of this medium is the viral movies of the Netherlands Socialist Party (SP) that were devised by our senator Niko Koffeman in a period when he still worked as a campaign strategist for the SP. He made movies that featured the name of the recipient, for example on a letter, on a telephone display or even on a billboard. Below you will find some examples of these viral movies. You can best see how they work if you fill in your name and e-mail address in the fields. Enter your first name in the field ‘jouw voornaam’, enter your e-mail address in the field ‘jouw e-mail’ and enter your mobile number in the field ‘jouw 06-nummer’ (this final option no longer works, but when it did you would receive a text message from the leading actor in the movie as you were watching it!). The viral movies are in the Dutch language.

Viral movie 1
Viral movie 2
Viral movie 3

A film’s ‘funniness’ is usually the most important criterion for being forwarded by viewers. It was this that caused the above viral movies to be downloaded half-a-million times within 2 weeks, a record in political marketing.
For the upcoming European elections, we have decided not to go for ‘funny’ this time. The viral we are releasing will be more informative.

While this will probably result in fewer downloads, we expect that we will reach many, many people who take a stand for animals, nature and the environment.

In our PowerPoint viral, we explain the problems of an undemocratic Europe and we demonstrate that the idea that the Party for the Animals only cares about animals and nothing else is incorrect. In the Netherlands, we are the only party with a programme that encompasses the entire planet, focusing on sustainability and compassion. If there is one thing we care about, it is the earth.

Unfortunately, the text is only available in Dutch, although our Spanish sister-party is considering using a Spanish-language version of the same viral. The question is whether it can be done before 7 June (as that’s when the European elections will be held in Spain).

Next week I will say a little more about dealing with misconceptions about 'one-issue-thinking', as it is sometimes known.

Greetings to you all. Wishing you a wonderful and animal-friendly week ahead!

Marianne