Nancy Cook
Writing 122
13 November 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iIkOi3srLo
“You are a good person” These are the first word you hear and see when you stumble upon the hilarious ad recently put out by Rainforest Alliance. True gems of social advocacy are few and far between, constantly choked out by the endless streams of car, fashion and fast food commercials. One of the few commercials that manages to stand out from the norm is the Rain Forest Alliance’s “Follow the Frog.” The web film succeeds in using the online medium to raise awareness and advocacy because it asks so little of its viewers and allows for the realistic change in an individual’s routine to help the rainforest.
In the web film we follow the life of one middle-class suburban male that lives a normal life, but focuses on the environmentally conscious decisions he makes. These decisions are referred to in the first person to bring emphasis on the viewer with the repeated use of the word “you.” Actions include conserving water when showering, recycling, liking nice clothes, giving to charity, spending time with family, driving a Prius but riding a bike when possible, and more. All of these things set an ethos to this individual’s character, everybody can likely relate to some part of this in their daily life. The music for this first 22 seconds of the ad is upbeat and inspiring accompanied by close up shots of the subject matter to emphasize the importance of the action.
Once the film has set the characters and by extension of the first person “you,” the viewer’s ethos it then states that “there is a part of you that tells you, that you’re not so good.” At this point the film frames its objective through the use of ominous music up close intense shots
of devastated forest land, and stating that the rainforest is be cut down at a staggering rate of 32 million acres a year. Now playing on it prior ethos the film tells “you want to do something about it that you must do something about it.”
The true genius of this ad is in its approach to moral values instead of just taking the next step and telling us we need to buy rainforest alliance products it takes us on satirical and “lampoonish” journey by telling us “this is what you are not going to do”. The film follows our environmentally conscious character as he quits his job, leaves his family, moves to the heart of the rainforest, ingratiates himself with the local and leads them in a physical revolt against the cooperate interests that are destroying the rain forest. When his attempts go horribly wrong he wakes up in an El Salvadorian hospital missing two toes and spirals into depression as he has to walk all the way back to the United States. Upon his arrival he finds that he has been replace at both his job and at home.
After setting the precedence of the difficulty of activism the film tells you what you can do “Follow the Frog.” The ad cleverly reinforces what you should do by showing in detail what you should not do. It outlines that taking that extra step to buy rainforest alliance is not so difficult after all. This ad is so successful because it does not ask the viewer to do much and in turn represents further activism in a satirical and inefficient manner making the easy course of action not only more likely but more effective as well.
What does the Rainforest Alliance do for the environments, societies, and economies they represent? The Rainforest Alliance takes an innovative approach to conservation by promoting sustainable practices and linking consumers to producers through the Rainforest Alliance seal. The question becomes in our era of green washing products what does the seal of the frog actually mean? Rainforest Alliance Website states their farms follow environmental standards set
by the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN). These standards Watch 10 points of conservation including ecosystem conservation, wildlife protection, working conditions, crop management, and a few more. According to Megan Hurt Associate Editor for Mother Earth News however “Brands are allowed to use the green frog seal on a product if even just 30 percent of the product comes from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.”(1) This not exactly USDA organic and allows a product to be deceptive in its labeling. There is some benefit as stated by Abby Ray a Rainforest Alliance communications associate, “What matters to the Rainforest Alliance is the impact on the land and workers, so a company buying 30 percent of 100 tons has more of an impact than one buying 100 percent of 10 tons.”(1) Purchasing Rain Forest Alliance products does not mean that the product is one hundred percent certified, but that doesn’t mean it is not making a difference however.
In the end it doesn’t take much for the consumer to make a small difference, and the more consumers we have buying Rainforest Alliance Certified products the bigger the impact. That is what this ad did so well, it wasn’t very informative about the product but it told you what the problem was and that all you had to do was follow the frog. Simple solutions on a world stage have a higher probability of success due to the reduced effort required of the individual. It can be as easy as switching your coffee.
Work Cited
Hirt, Megan. "Nature and Environment." Mother Earth News. Mother Earth News, 29 May 2009. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
De Freitas, Andre. "SAN Principles." Sustainable Agriculture Network Subsections. Sustainable Agriculture Network, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
London, Larwence F., Jr. "SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE NETWORK (SAN)." SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE NETWORK (SAN). Venaura Farm, 28 Dec. 1996. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
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