#Coalisamazing – at fuelling a social media shitstorm
Did anyone at the Minerals Council of Australia or their PR agency really think a new ad campaign spruiking how “amazing” coal is wasn’t going to create a bit of a kerfuffle?
Dr. Mumbo couldn’t help but notice that the Minerals Council of Australia has taken a leaf from the marketing playbook of Mr Burns from The Simpsons’ for its latest ad campaign praising for the coal industry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKp8W1jBuHw
The campaign advocates for coal as an impressive environmental resource. A voiceover says: “Isn’t it amazing what this little black rock can do?” while the slogan of the campaign is: “Coal. It’s an amazing thing.”
The attempts to dispel the ‘myths’ around the big, bad coal industry is weirdly reminiscent of the propaganda video ‘Nuclear Energy: Our Misunderstood Friend’ shown at the power plant in The Simpsons.
Minerals Council of Australia makes no mention of the negative impacts of coal mining, sweeping any concerns people may have under a figurative carpet. In The Simpsons video, leftover nuclear waste is literally swept under the carpet, with a character saying: “No problem. I’ll just put it where no one can find it for a billion years!”
Environmentalists have had a field day on social media, with the hashtag #Coalisamazing now trending on Twitter, leading to some very entertaining tweets:
'Public relations fail of the year' http://t.co/f3yDulpVAx #coalisamazing pic.twitter.com/LD4stAqfz5
— Greenpeace Aus Pac (@GreenpeaceAustP) September 7, 2015
For Father’s Day yesterday, coal made me breakfast in bed and spoilt me all day! #coalisamazing #qldpol #auspol http://t.co/o1d6ylsyUP
— Tim Seelig (@Tim_Seelig_Aus) September 6, 2015
My uncle was killed in one of these cages when it hurtled into the floor of a mine shaft – #coalisamazing pic.twitter.com/aM7KyginbI
— Jason Thompson (@Simulated_Jase) September 6, 2015
#coalisamazing – it’s taking such a dive economically that #renewables are now cheaper, easier & healthier for all! pic.twitter.com/2FTRzl4iqj
— 350Australia (@350Australia) September 6, 2015
Coal was merely “good for humanity”, and now it’s amazing? #auspol #coalisamazing pic.twitter.com/o4f9FT4Sqk
— Drowningbitbybit (@drowninbitbybit) September 7, 2015
Comments have also been disabled on the Youtube video.
One social media user, Kelly O’Shanassy said: “Coal may have been amazing in the 19th Century but now that we know that coal pollution kills people and causes global warming, thinking its still amazing is unethical and negligent. Your product kills.”
While Chris Lawson commented: “Coal is amazing…Is this a Monty Python skit?”
Dr Mumbo suggests the tagline ‘Coal – fuelling social media since 2015’ for the next campaign.
What even… Did the client actually stop and think before briefing this campaign? Did the agency simply laughed all the way to the bank? DID WE LEARN NOTHING?
SMH
can Dr Mumbo advise what tagline or idea he thinks would NOT be lampooned by anti-coal exponents?
I can’t think of one.
talk about a soft target.
Is coal. Is good.
I hope this is a hoax. Who in the 21st Century in the right frame of mind to say “Never mind that it is melting the glaciers at a alarming rate and killing off poor old Johnnie Polar Bear when coal creates jobs and is a abundant source of energy”
Next they will tell us “Use Asbestos it’s the insulation of the Future!” or ‘Drink Mercury it will cure your ailments.’
Talk about Fossil Fuels. Sometimes the fossils are the ones peddling it.
Caz Prescott taking a reputation risk as the VO artist? Or is work just work?
Sammy “what tagline or idea … would NOT be lampooned by anti-coal exponents” … ermmm…. none. Much the same as anyone with a clue and a moral compass would be aghast by a campaign promoting the benefits of, say, Thalidomide.
The little black rock that could…
Isn’t it amazing they can reduce the big black coal industry to an amazing harmless little black rock. I’m speechless!
The Fresh Fuel People?
Sammy are you a bit worried about your job at the PR agency? Coal is actually pretty hard, not soft at all.
It worked last time with Rudd and Australians, so hey, never stop repeating.
Cigarettes are amazing too. Like a portable fireplace in every durry. And toxins can be cut by up to 40% with the new micronite filter now asbestos free.
Speaking of which, asbestos was a “miracle mineral”.
Taglines?
Coal – You’re in the dark without it.
Things go better with coal.
Coal – it’s all we’ve got for now.
Four more years.
Coal – God’s gift to mankind
Coal – why would we lie?
20000 power plants can’t be wrong.
Coal – tried and proven for centuries
Coal – it’s the new black.
Coal – it’s fracking gas.
If we don’t burn it, someone else will.
Coal is the biggest single source of carbon dioxide pollution, the biggest contributor to global warming. But hey, what does the future of the planet matter when a client with deep pockets comes along?
Who is the agency behind this campaign and why are they being so quiet about it?
If any of you are reading – you know that queasy feeling you got when you decided to take the money and do this job? That was your soul telling you not to be a morally bankrupt lowlife.
Caz Prescott, who hired out her ‘natural’ voice to sell this nature-destroying industry is named at the end of the ad – everyone else involved in making it should be named too.
Who is the agency?
It’s also really bad. Must be a struggling industry, production values are through the floor. Perhaps a telethon would help… “Make your call on coal”. They can have that one for free… Actually, no they can’t.
There are times when a writer must direct the perpetrators of evil to these wise words… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuJEeAVWG4o
Who is the target audience – the public? the coal industry? the government? Scratching my head to work who needs to know this useless information.
@Sammy, (noting some splendid examples above from JB).
‘Coal, if it aint broken, why fix it?’
‘Risk polluting the aquifers; with Coal!’ (Pronounced like that annoying advert: ‘At Lowes!’.)
‘Lets stick with a resource that was used when cars were horses’.
One last one:
‘Stick with coal. Let’s help make Elon Musk make even more money.’
“Coal – a diamond in the rough”
Coal – yesterdays green resource, today.
Coal – at least its not uranium!
Nothing this ad said was wrong. Plus, coal is the reason we had the industrial revolution — you know, that thing that is responsible for everything you currently have and hold dear.
But I agree, the advertisement is a waste of money. You don’t need advertising to sell the benefits of having electricity in your house. Any African could tell you that.
And no, coal is not the biggest contributor to global warming. Water vapor is. Just sayin.
Its like a piss poor attempt at a Gruen challenge.
Are we sure this isn’t a publicity stunt for the return of Gruen this week?
Who’s the agency Mumbrella?
@Luke
‘Plus coal is the reason we had the industrial revolution.’
Nuclear bombs were the reason the 2nd world war finished. Doesn’t mean we should continue to drop atom bombs on our neighbours, for the sake of it!?
Granted, we need to burn coal, take steel manufacturing as an example. However, for electricity production, we can utilise other resources today, in 2015. We do not NEED anymore coal mines.
Your fossil fuel agenda aside Luke: lets move on.
The person listed on the press release ain’t no intern. He worked in various senior roles for The LIberal Party from 2003 – 2015.
#I’mSurprised
#NoI’mNot
#LiberalsLoveCoal
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/jonathan-hawkes/32/b94/7a6
@ Luke please inform the EPA of your amazing discovery that water vapour is the biggest contributor to global warming because they have it all wrong
http://www.epa.gov/climatechan.....lobal.html
Back to the tagline, how about: “Don’t be afraid of coal. It’s just like the rocks people like Luke have in their heads”
@Coaly Woaly
Not related to Chesney is he?
@Mark – keep it civil That website has a chart of greenhouse gas emissions. Water vapor isn’t on there as it isn’t considered an emited greenhouse gas. Water constitutes 95% of greenhouse gas – feel free to ask a Climate Scientist, any real scientist, if you know any.
@SBC – I’d rather the bomb wasnt dropped at all. But unlike that bomb, coal (if not dropped on your head) doesn’t kill you. Burning wood/dung fires in a hut to cook food and for heat however results in 4 million premature deaths, from illness attributable to burning solid fuels indoors. http://www.who.int/mediacentre...../fs292/en/. Cheap energy from coal power plants can save lives today.
No I don’t work in coal, just concern by the stifling of debate on the issue.
“…to burning solid fuels indoors.” BUT that is the crux of it. Education can fix that. Education won’t change the chemical composition nor make coal a renewable resource!
I’m pretty sure they know burning smoke in their home is not good for them, especially when they see those around them dying from lung cancer. No need for you to educate them. Right now they need to cook food to eat and heat their home (or they will die quicker, obviously). What they lack is an alternative, which affordable electricity provides.
@Luke.
Which is cleaner: Solar, wind or coal?
@SBC You’ve got to be realistic, winf and solar cant do it for a very long time if ever. If realism isn’t in the picture then put a mico-fusion generator in the house of every man of woman born. Clean, constant and gaurenteed to run for generations. Coal generated power for everyone is realistic.
@ Luke, you said “coal is not the biggest contributor to global warming. Water vapor is”.
That’s patently wrong (and I’m not just talking spelling). Water does NOT contribute to global warming.
Then you said “Water constitutes 95% of greenhouse gas”.
That’s also wrong, because ‘Greenhouse gas” is the term we use for harmful gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect aka global warming.
You are correct in that water is a by product of many industrial production processes, but obviously it’s not a problem unless the water is polluted in the process, which it usually is.
Seriously mate, educate yourself before making statements. Try these to start:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_the_coal_industry#River_water_pollution
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_en.....fYTE52eDRY
@Mark S. You referenced Wikipedia, so will I. Look at this page: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas. Water vapour absolutely IS a greenhouse gas and the most common and potent by far, making up for up to 76% of the warming effect.
You can’t just change the meaning of words to suit your argument. I agree tho: Educate thyself, don’t just follow the popular opinion.
(Note ‘Vapor’ is the correct spelling for most of the English speaking world)
Luke – I think the point being made here is that if it is recognized that coal is dangerous on many fronts, then its best to not use it and find alternatives. And to advertise that it is amazing is ridiculous given the knowledge of the effects its use has had and is having.
Mumbrella didn’t post this video, nor users comment on it, in order to find a solution to climate change. They did so because they feel the need express an imagined moralistic superiority. If they wanted a solution they would become the solution and refuse to use coal generated electricity (Australian electricity), finding their own alternative. That would create a market for alternatives.