The UN Goes to Hollywood—But Is It Ready for a Close-Up?

The UN Goes to Hollywood—But Is It Ready for a Close-Up? This is just one part of a conversation started by my friend Kyra: I agree with her point that in the mass media feedback loops make a much bigger impact than soundbites/ytes. Maybe the UN needs to hire people that have the knack for successfully engaging people. I think UNICEF's messaging is good, at least by having distanced itself in the public's eye from the UN. But here's the catch - the UN is roughly as fashionable across America as the fight for AIDS research... maybe even less so. You have small, but LOUD groups on the fringes - one extremely supportive, the other calling the UN a communist New World Order org bent on destroying US sovereignty. I think coastal Americans have positive associations, if not somewhat apathetic. But the folks in the Middle are for the most part apathetic if not outright hostile. So, I think the coastal chunks and the supporters are ready to be engaged. Middle America needs more positive associations. I would like to see this, esp. in light of the fact that more political and commercial dollars are spent on manipulation and messaging to Middle America than any other. I think only time will show whether showing up at awards ceremonies is a way to create positive associations with the apathetic Middle. Consider the Red Ribbon campaign - largely popularized by awards shows. Really, I think the the UN should use new media. And as far as new media go - there are cloying or boring new media, and then there are sexy yet CLASSY new media. I firmly believe that you can make noble ideas sexy. To be clear, I mean desirably eye-catching, not erotic. The UN might have to hire classy, hip people to pull it off. Brave New Films, Oprah, Michael Moore, the One Campaign, Whole Foods have all managed to pull off noble and "sexy." Rock on. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.