Can I change your mind?

Time to take climage change seriously. The Clangers say so.

Oliver Postgate is a worried man. As you may have noticed, the creator of some of our best loved children's TV shows, has been running a series of ads in national newspapers and magazines, warning us of the perils of climate change.

In many ways, it's an admirable thing to do. He clearly feels passionately on the subject, and he must have spent a fortune on the advertising space. But I'm afraid that, in terms of the persuasive effect of his ads, he's wasting his money. Not because they are badly written: the arguments are over-heated (appropriately enough, you may feel), but quite well expressed.

No, the problem lies in the bottom right corner of the ads - where, in the place conventionally occupied by the client's logo, we see a small pink woolly long-nosed creature, under which runs the line: "Sponsored, anxiously, by THE CLANGERS".

In persuasive communication, provenance matters. As readers, one of the first questions we ask (consciously or unconsciously) as we read is: who is telling me this? And this leads directly follow-up questions like what do they stand to gain? And why should I believe them?

If we want to be informed and warned about global warming, we might turn to George Monbiot in The Guardian. Or visit Friends of the Earth's website. Or go to Google and search a billion learned and not-so-learned sources. But it's pretty unlikely that we'd think of consulting a knitted toy.

So nice try Mr Postgate, but no cigar. The characters you've created have entertained millions of children, and no doubt made the world a better, happier place. But saving the planet? Not even Bagpuss could manage that.

posted by Lindsay @ 6:38 pm