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Ryan Maxwell Special to The Ebbtide As the United States prepares for war with Iraq, the thoughts of many turn to the prevention of such a destructive exchange. While it is agreed among protestors that the war against Iraq must be prevented, the tactics used to convey this message of peace are varied. Some organize marches, post flyers, construct anti-war petitions and websites (there is even a website that advocate masturbation in the name of peace), and utilize public speech. Others employ more radical means, such as graffiti of public property or vandalism of SUVs and gas stations or other such purveyors of petroleum products. In fact, there seems to be such a great divergence in approach to war protest that no single message stands out as potent and concise enough as to unify and strengthen their common cause: prevent a U.S./Iraq war. What these people of varying walks of life need is a rally cry. They need a slogan like "Hell No! We Won't Go!" or at least a "U.S. OUT OF NICARAGUA!" that is tailor made to befit the climate of these modern times. The main problem facing the creators of such a catch phrase is the question of who will listen. With conglomerates and mega corporations vying for consumer attention, the bar of desensitization to such slogans has been raised so high as to seem unattainable. So how do you grab the attention of the average U.S. citizen? We have all seen the strange, almost surreal bumper sticker that at once asks and then answers, "Attack Iraq? No!" Besides sounding remarkably similar to sentiments expressed in an anti-drug campaign supported by Nancy Reagan in the nineteen eighties (we all know how that turned out), it suggests that we need do no more than "Just say no" to war in Iraq and our dreams of a peaceful resolution will come true. But the main point of contention with this slogan is that it is, in all honesty, just plain clunky. It lacks the flow or rhythm of "Make Love, Not War!" or even the non-war related, vomit-inducing "Four More Years!", and ultimately it just doesn't make you want to get up and stand in front of a tank or smash a despotic tyrant, and it will not work as the rally cry for the defenders of peace. We are all living in a time where people are so inundated with the overly flashy graphics and fast editing of advertisers that it seems our ever diminishing attention spans will some day follow the evolutionary path of our once proud, curly tails and become nothing more than vestigial tributes to a distant past. So what should we do? What can we do? The answer is simple-we fight fire with fire. Advertising agencies have propelled companies like Nike and Pepsi to the top of their respective market niches. Slogans like "Just do it" and "The choice of a new generation," while simple in nature, give a cross-section of demographics something easy to remember and therefore easy to identify. Ask a teenager or even a twenty something what "Hell No We Won't Go!" means and you most likely be met with a blank stare or at best a defeated shrug. Ask them what "Just do it" means and they will not only understand its philosophical context, but they will also know the name of the product, who endorses it, and where it can be purchased. In fact, people of almost any generation will have vestiges of the psychic shrapnel inherent to the advertising bombardment of American society. That is precisely why the anti-war movement, and let's face it - it is a movement, would be best served to employ the services of the same companies that transform words like "Gap" or "Target" from mere nouns to household names. If it is so easy for advertisers to give so much weight to such mundane monikers as these, imagine what could be done with such a noble and just cause as the prevention of the loss of thousands of lives. Think of the beautifully simple and poignant bumper stickers that would grace the bumpers of Saabs and Volvos and Subarus everywhere. Mottos such as "Attack Iraq? No!" would be replaced with sleeker, more streamlined phrases like "Just don't do it!" Since the full scale launch of the mega-ad campaign that had Britney Spears dancing through the decades with a can of Pepsi in her hand and barely anything on but the radio, almost every human being in America who thinks of Pepsi now associates it with Spears. One can be assured that if there were any young impressionable men out there, or women for that matter, who didn't yet know about Pepsi before that campaign, they most certainly do now. Imagine what could be done with a peace movement whose catchy slogan was "backed" by J-Lo. My guess is that a peaceful resolution to this potential conflict could be reached before the end of a sixty second spot. And if for some reason war was to break out despite the please of J-Lo, anti-war letter bombs could be dispensed above the fighting soldiers with pictures of a scantily clad Catherine Zeta-Jones or any number of sexy spokesmodels. Those poor young boys would likely lay down their arms and forget about the drudgery of settling disputes through means of violence, and prepare to kiss and make up. © 2003 Shoreline Community College™ |