A few pictures from my day with the BBC World Service Trust, here in Ethiopia. They produce a weekly radio show called Abugida, a magazine format programme covering issues around sex. It’s still a taboo subject here – misinformation and confusion rule. Some examples:
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“The pill makes you skinny” (note, skinny is a bad look in Ethiopia).
“My daughter’s having sex, I can tell because she’s started menstruating”.
“Only people with HIV need to use condoms”.
“Uncircumcised girls are loud and clumsy”.
Not everyone has a radio, and so “listening groups” are held all over the country. The pictures below are from a group held a couple of hours south of the capital. Young people listen together, then discuss the stories they hear. It’s a great way to start conversations – and the listening groups often provide stories for future shows.
And back in the office, here are the producers, Ruth, Elsabeth and Frehiwot – and an Africa-wide award they’re enormously proud of. This is a great initiative, an example of how to get social communications right in Africa.
Filed under: Mother, Youth | Tags: football, Mother, sport, World Cup 2010, Youth
Mother’s finest have been playing a bit of football in East London. Not Shoreditch, but South Africa. It’s one of the poorest areas in the country, and this trip was the start of a long-term legacy project with the village of Chintsa.
It’s a Mother tradition to celebrate the big football tournaments with a creative project. This year we decided to do it with a social twist. So, we picked a team from Mother’s three global offices, and sent them to South Africa to play against local teams. It was a chance to get involved with local communities, and find out about the problems they face.
There are some great projects in South Africa, working with young people and using football as a force for change:
- Kick4Life runs innovative sport programs that provide opportunities and inspiration for young people.
- SCORE uses sport to provide children and youth with skills like communication and teamwork.
- Africaid has a youth programme called WhizzKids United that provides HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment worldwide through football.
- Grassroot Soccer is a global initiative using the power of soccer in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
Our team witnessed the power of the game to bring a community together: over 1,000 people watched the final game – the township had never seen so many local white people. As Dylan wrote on the Twitter feed: “Music played,people danced,everyone laughed and sang.A community came together for the evening around a dust patch 22 guys and a ball”.
In the end the legacy seemed obvious: provide a focal point where the community can come together regularly – and so that’s the plan: build a sports and community centre in the Chintsa township, with a multipurpose grass pitch, floodlights, stand, and changing rooms. It will be a place where community groups can meet, and where initiatives like Kick4Life and SCORE can run their projects.
Something to be proud of. We’ll update on the progress on this blog.
Images from Mother’s World Cup photostream.
The votes are being counted, and I just heard Lord Mandelson say, “without wishing to sound glib, I think the public may have won the election”. Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The media and the politicians are enjoying the idea that this was “the people’s election”, but the Electoral Commission estimate that only 56% of 18-25 year olds are even registered to vote. Not everyone’s feeling it.
Still, it’s been more lively than anyone expected. Here are some images to celebrate.
Images from Tropical Inc, Billbored, The Sun and Political Scrapbook.
Filed under: Drugs, FRANK, Mother, Social Media, Uncategorized, Youth | Tags: cocaine, Drugs, FRANK, legal highs, mephedrone, Social Media, Youth
We’re now almost at 190,000 fans on Pablo’s Facebook page, part of the FRANK campaign. It’s become a real community, and since the beginning one of the main topics has been mephedrone – or meph, or MCAT, or cat piss, or bubble, or plant fertilizer, or whatever you want to call it.
Mephedrone has been in the news following two deaths this week. It’s currently one of a number of legal drugs, which has prompted a predictable furore (“The Death Drug We Can’t Police“, etc). Mandelson promised to look into it “very speedily” (perhaps not his finest choice of adverb).
We’ve been exploring communications around the “legal highs”, and developed the Crazy Chemist campaign (above), which ran in clubs last year. There are new chemicals being developed/synthesized/distributed all the time – it’s cat and mouse. We needed a proposition that can cover all of them. We found some crazy people out there pushing the envelope. This post from one of the mephedrone pioneers, a chemist calling himself Kinetic:
i’ve been bored over the last couple of days and had a few fun reagents lying around, so i thought i’d try and make some 1-(4-methylphenyl)-2-methylaminopropanone hydrochloride, or 4-methylmethcathinone. [...] I was a bit scared about what snorting 50mg might do, but since I’ve been almost constantly abusing the (badly synthesised) 1-phenyl-2-methylaminobutan-1-one, 50mg didn’t do too much. I thought I’d wasted my time until I snorted another 100mg about 30 minutes later, and then it hit me. Intense rushes all over, lasting for well over 30 minutes.
That was in 2004. Legal highs like mephedrone find their way into the clubs, and then out into the mainstream. In 2008, mephedrone didn’t even have a Wikipedia page – now it’s easily to order online. A Google trends search shows the steady growth of interest in mephedrone over the last 12 months:
We did some qualitative work with users, and found the growth of legal highs is part of a bigger picture: “escapism is back”, as our researcher Steve Lacey puts it. Drug use is always part of a bigger drug culture, and Steve thinks that an impulse to get “out of it” is a growing response to the recession. Platform magazine agrees:
Down with shiny women, washing and cocaine, up with bad tattoos and stealing tranquilizers from pony club. Economy drug experimentation is reaching a new socially acceptable high.
Maybe this is why the current national panic over mephedrone isn’t focused on the cities, but in deprived rural areas, as reported in the latest Druglink. For example, in Teesdale, mephedrone use was triggered by a police crackdown on local cocaine dealers, as sgt Michael Urwin explains:
From what we can gather, it started from one lad in Cockfield watching a BBC3 documentary about legal highs. He’s gone on the internet and bought some mephedrone. Then he bought in bulk, sold to his mates in the village and from there it traveled to the neighbouring village of Evenwood, then onto the towns of Barnard Castle, Bishop Auckland and eventually Darlington. I think it’s a case of an enterprising, if that’s the right word, teenager who thought ‘how can I get round this lack of cocaine’.
So, it’s the BBC’s fault. This is the risk that communications face: talk to much about it and you stimulate demand. That’s why Crazy Chemist was targeting clubs environments. But we may be seeing a perfect storm of drug use: a growing desire for escapism; cheap and easy access online; police are turning the screws on cocaine and ecstasy supply, and prices are rising. Banning mephedrone may (or may not) solve the government’s mephedrone problem, but you can bet the next batch of legal highs are ready and waiting.
Filed under: Education, Innovation, Microdonations, Mother, Social Enterprise, Social Exclusion, Uncategorized, Youth | Tags: Innovation, Microdonations, Mother, Social Enterprise, Social Exclusion, Youth
We held the latest of our UnLtd brand clinics at Mother this week. They’re always energized sessions – a couple of social enterprises really grabbed us.
One was the Hip Hop Shakespeare Company, set up by rapper Akala to work with disengaged young people, getting them excited about words and rhyming. Another was MOTIV, which works in schools to incentivize kids to turn up – like the Million project, but teaching the value of attendance at the same time as rewarding them.
Social enterprise keeps on booming. Micro-funding sites continue growing, such as Pledge Bank in the UK and Kickstarter in the US. Gordon Brown has been talking about this for a while now. Last week saw David Cameron sign up to No More Business As Usual, which has some interesting facts:
- Social enterprises contribute £24 billion to the economy.
- They’re twice as confident of future growth as traditional small and medium enterprises.
- Since the economic downturn began, 56% have increased their turnover.
But the real value is in the work they do – addressing social exclusion, fighting health inequalities, revitalizing local sports, inspiring kids to go to school. The optimism and imagination in some of these enterprises is exceptional. In our current economy of malaise, we should be paying attention.
I’ve been invited along to a Westminster “policy seminar” on this subject – the blurb reads “social entrepreneurs can be part of a new partnership between citizen and state and, given the right support, they have the potential to be a major force for social and economic good in this country”. Who’s going to say no to that…
Image from njohnson0920.
Filed under: Coca-Cola, Mother, Youth | Tags: Coca-Cola, London 2012, Mother, Olympics
The 2012 Olympics were supposed to be all about young people. During the bid, Tony Blair told the IOC that London could inspire global youth to improve their lives through sport: “it is a city with a voice that talks to young people”. Nice vision – but it doesn’t mean much to kids in east London.
That was the subject of Wednesday’s panel discussion at Mother – chaired by Wired editor Ben Hammersley, with panelists including Ruth MacKenzie (head of the Cultural Olympiad), Thomas Godfrey (Sport England), and Chantelle Fiddy (editor of Ctrl.Alt.Shift).
Chantelle set the tone by describing young people as “just observers” to the Olympics. Even this seems optimistic: this film by an east London school shows local kids have a very sketchy understanding of the Olympics: half of them thought the event lasts two years. One girl tells us “last time it happened, some short girl won”.
The Olympic organization embodies everything that “youth culture” rejects: it’s a massive, litigious, command-and-control machine – quasi-corporate and quasi-governmental. In a them-and-us world, the Olympics is definitely them not us. Charlie Tims from Demos stood up and talked about the need to “de-institutionalize the Olympics”; somebody else talked about “open source Olympics”. All good… but how?
Two ideas that could help London 2012 connect with young people:
- First, maybe start with something young people actually enjoy, like…. cheerleading. Yes, really. According to Thomas Godfrey, it’s sweeping the nation. Dance too, like Stratford’s Pied Piper production, which moved to the Barbican last year. All this is the opposite of the Olympics; it’s pro-am, communal, informal – not elite professionals.
- Second, maybe show some values that young people actually share. Ruth talked about the idea of the Olympic Truce, the laying down of arms before the games, setting aside differences. Ben read out some of the Olympic Charter, words like friendship, solidarity, fair play, respect, “a strong body, mind and will” – all words that mean something in a divided, gang-culture world.
If the London 2012 can’t connect with young people on it’s own doorstep, fat chance of inspiring global youth. Our Coca-Cola clients were there. Coke is one of the top-tier sponsors… maybe they can help turn the rhetoric of the 2012 bid into a reality for young people around the world.
Image courtesy of Dave Hill
Filed under: Advertising, Coca-Cola, Corporate Citizenship, Happiness, Pepsi, Youth | Tags: Advertising, charity, Coca-Cola, Corporate Citizenship, Happiness, Pepsi
No it’s not a flashback to the Obama election – it’s Pepsi’s Refresh Everything campaign. Instead of a big-bucks 30 second Superbowl spot this year, Pepsi decided to give $1.3 million to good causes, allowing consumers to vote on who should get what. The results are announced on March 1st.
Pepsi follows the example of TripAdvisor: in 2008, more than a million people voted on how they should give away $1 million in their More Than Footprints campaign.
It’s a big move for a brand like Pepsi – very different from the usual big budget Britney ad. It could be the latest sign of a shift in society’s attitudes around advertising. The think-tank Compass published a report this week called The Advertising Effect, the latest to argue that advertising fuels our voracious consumerism – which doesn’t really make us happy.
It’s the old AdBuster’s thought, but it’s gaining academic weight: the report pulls together Dr. David Myer’s studies on happiness, as well as work by Prof. Richard Layard and of course Oliver James. There’s also interesting input from organizations such as The Children’s Society:
One factor that may be leading to rising mental health problems is the increasing degree to which children and young people are preoccupied with possessions; the latest in fashionable clothes and electronic equipment… Evidence both from the United States and from the UK suggests that those most influenced by commercial pressures also show higher rates of mental health problems.
Against this background, Pepsi’s decision to ditch Superbowl looks progressive – let’s hope the new approach delivers the sales volumes. It challenges all of us to find positive ways to drive sales for our clients. Interesting that all this coincides with some very encouraging comments by PepsiCo’s Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi talking to the FT about the company’s “license from society”:
“We’re constantly watching the changing societal trends and looking at the interplay between corporations and societies… [in] Davos, both this year and last, everybody is talking about the new rules of capitalism, [which] are, don’t just think about the company within the four walls of the company, think about your obligations to society.”
The Compass report starts from a marketing-is-evil presumption. They want to ban lots of advertising. That’s just a lack of imagination. The answer isn’t no advertising, but good advertising. The real challenge is to find positive ways to engage consumers, which enhances their lives and builds business for our clients.
Our Facebook page for Pablo the Drug Mule Dog now has over 135,000 fans – and it’s still growing. It’s an extension of the TV campaign, which shows Pablo’s journey through the darker side of cocaine use. Our Facebook page simply continues this journey. Pablo meets all sorts of people involved in the world of coke: a DJ, a bouncer, a doctor, the mother of an addict, etc – asking them all, “what’s the big deal about coke?”.
It’s been great to watch a community form around this page – here’s what we’ve learnt so far:
1. IT’S PLAY
We’ve created a safe environment where kids feel OK to discuss drugs and ask stupid questions without risk of embarrassment.
2. IT’S COMMUNITY
It’s been funny and sometimes quite moving to read some of the stories people are sharing, and their response to each other – eager to offer advice and encouragement.
3. IT’S SELF-REGULATING
At first we had a lot of “drugs are cool and should be legal’ comments. We resisted moderating these, and it’s been great to watch the community become self-moderating.
4. IT’S CONVERSATION
Pablo’s quest provide a good story, and the films are like an “alibi” for being on Facebook – but the main draw for kids is the social, not content – it’s all about conversation: with Pablo, with each other. Pablo keeps the conversation going.
FRANK is the most trusted source of drugs information for young people – more than your teachers, your mum, or even your friends. But FRANK was invented in 2003, and the world kids live in has changed just a bit since then. We’re learning loads from this activity about how to keep building trust with kids in the world they live in now.
Filed under: Advertising, Education, Happiness, LGBT, Public Opinion, Youth | Tags: Advertising, Happiness, LGBT, Public Opinion, stonewall, Youth
Peace, love, goodwill to everyone – fine words at the end of a year which saw a surge in support for the BNP and a rise in homophobic attacks. It’s been a year of growing intolerance in the UK. Interesting then, digging around in the World Values Survey, to see that the world’s most tolerance societies are also the happiest.
It confirms some of our favourite country stereotypes: exuberant Latin American countries which embrace diversity, contrasted with former communist countries of eastern Europe – grim and intolerant. I pulled the data for people who said they were “very happy” and ran it alongside people who said that “homosexuality is never justifiable”. Here’s the results:
It’s all strangely affirming. The more tolerant countries – Sweden, Spain, Canada, Thailand – are the most happy. The more homophobic places – Poland, Ukraine, Russia – are more miserable. It’s a global truth: 92,000 people took the survey across the world, and among those who said that homosexuality is never justifiable, 25% said they were very happy; among those who said it was always justifiable, 31% were very happy. Stop the press: tolerant people are more happy.
Of course most of us knew this already: the question is, how do we tell the rest of them? Peace, love and goodwill are good for the soul – a difficult message to convey to someone struggling in harsh economic conditions, whether in Russia’s industrial wastelands or in Bradford. But it’s an important idealistic message: be happy, love your neighbour.
Stonewall’s campaign against homophobic bullying is a good start. “Some people are gay. Get over it” – in other words, the problem’s yours, deal with it. The campaign was developed by kids in schools, and has been a successful conversation starter. It’s a bold, challenging message – but what’s the emotional benefit? What’s in it for the bullies? We need a positive message as well, something to aspire to.
It will be interesting to see where Stonewall takes the campaign next. The World Values Survey shows that a quarter of Britons think homosexuality is “never justifiable”. This is less than the US (32%) and the world average (56%) – but still, 1 in 4 people is still a huge amount, and recent events suggest it’s on the increase. There’s clearly work for Stonewall to do.
NB. the last World Values Survey was completed in 2007. It’s is being repeated in 2010.
Filed under: Alcohol, Drugs, Economics, Education, Youth | Tags: Alcohol, digital, digital natives, Drugs, Education, lost generation, RSA, Youth, YouTube
A few of us from Mother went to the Lost Generation talk at the RSA last week, where the economist David Blanchflower warned of the “lull before the storm” in youth unemployment. Currently it’s 1 in 5, and set to rise. This is a big deal, he says: it could leave permanent social and economic damage on an entire generation.
Interesting to see the allergic reaction from Ruby Pseudo to the language of “lost generations”. Here she is, speaking up:
We have the tools; the abilities; the knowledge, to succeed in an increasingly digital world – we are fast thinking, forward thinking, adept and mobile. We are the net generation and, by that, the most powerful generation ever [and we’re the ones that are in trouble?!]
Ruby’s point is that the world of work needs to adapt to a generation with a different set of skills. It’s not just a macro economics question of job creation: as Miles Templeman of the Institute of Directors put it in the discussion after the talk, the old jobs are going, and they’re not coming back. The challenge is to find new ways of working, more flexible and engaging modes of employment.
All this sounds good, but something’s not right. Last week we spent a couple of hours talking to 16 year olds from local Hackney schools. None of them had a clue (or much interest) in what happens when school finishes – let alone any ideas about the future. These are the kids that the President of the National Union of Students Wes Streeting focused on during the talk – the ones at risk of real, lasting social exclusion, drug and alcohol abuse, etc.
When we asked them what would be their ideal job, there was a pretty clear answer: testing computer games. It made me think of Steve Johnson’s book Everything Bad Is Good For You: the technology/media/culture environment young people are growing up in is teaching them to new cognitive skills – skills which aren’t being engaged by the world of work.
If the way that young peoples minds work is changing, shouldn’t the world of school change too? Instead, we have an epidemic of Ritalin prescription in this country – in some towns, as many as one in seven children under 16 are prescribed Ritalin (source). This is the lost generation: thousands of young people being pathologised for the convenience of doctors, teachers and parents.
It’s the good old Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants generation gap. It’s not just the world of work that needs to change, the world of learning does too. As the US group Partnership for 21st Century Skills puts it, “today’s education system faces irrelevance unless we bridge the gap between how students live and how they learn”.
Before we start getting all “Learning 2.0″, let’s get some perspective. We asked the 16 year olds we met what they’re looking at on YouTube at the moment: as one of them said, “I just type in FUNNY SHIT and see what happens”. We thought we’d entertain ourselves and our clients by running together a montage of the clips they talked about…. LYAO!
“Dole Street” image grabbed from David Blanchflower’s RSA Presentation. Any YouTube copyright infringements unintentional!
