Facebool - Conversation about Think B4 You Speak
There has been some chatter around my circle of friends about the recent launch of the Think B4 You Speak Campaign. Even the guys at Penny Arcade have done a comic on the marketing initiative. When I first saw some the tag lines they were gong to use with the campaign posters I laughed out loud, which I don’t do often:
That’s So “Cheerleader Who Like, Can’t Like, Say Smart Stuff.”
After thinking about the campaign some more, talking with friends and rereading Penny Arcade. I’ve to agree with what a lot of people are saying. Think B4 You Speak is trying to fight fire with fire and that won’t work against teens who don’t give a rats ass about what we think or how they might be making their fellow classmate feel. My friend Miles also pointed me to this YouTube video by Katy Perry – Ur So Gay:
It’s hard to say if the teens who say “That’s gay” is a minority or a majority from a North American perspective. However, I know when I first got out of school. I had a VP say it a few times and one look from me got him to say sorry and not do it again. From that point on no one said it again. I think small steps like this work on a bigger scale then trying to change everyone at once. Pink Shit Day and the Stupid campaigns related to smoking are great ways to gain support and grow a cause organically across the country and around the world. The Think B4 You Speak Campaign should have taken this route in the end.
