Carey Finn talks to Thomas Kolster, marketing activist, author and ex-adman, about falling into the “hero trap” when working for the good of people and society.
Tag archives: Thomas Kolster
Green Sky Thinking: The need for thneed
by Colwyn Elder (@colwynelder) In March last year The Lorax came to our big screen in all its 3D glory and with a star-studded cast of voices including: Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Danny DeVito and Ed Helms. If you missed it, you can listen to the story here, a charming fable of corporate greed (represented by the Once-ler and his superfluous, but fast selling thneeds) and its consequent environmental damage.
Narrated by The Lorax who ‘speaks for the trees’, it’s a pertinent story and the cinematic release seemed timeous and considered, until you realise (or remember) that the original story was in fact written in 1971. That’s right, Dr. Seuss warned us against the dangers of not caring for our environment 40 years ago.
Would you give away your campaign for a better future?
In a world facing massive change, we need to take drastic measures. A lot of the issues at hand from water scarcity to poverty are bigger than any one company or non-profit can answer. We can solve these pressing problems by sharing what really works. There are so many exciting initiatives around the world offering solutions, but most often people don’t know about them.
With the Right to Recycle License we can all encourage free sharing of good initiatives. If an initiative can improve HIV infection rates in India, what is to say it wouldn’t work in Sub Saharan Africa? By sharing these ideas, we can make a real difference with real results and turn local initiatives global!
I hope to encourage agencies, companies, non-profits, governmental agencies and foundations to work together to find lasting solutions for health, environment and society, by submitting their sustainability initiatives or non-profit campaigns to a central platform. If we all share communication solutions for good; we can accelerate innovation and ultimately do greater good for people, the planet and business.
The silence on COP17 and its unintended lesson for South Africans
South Africans have an extraordinary social conscience, says Thomas Kolster, the Danish communications consultant and author of the soon-to-be released book The Bible of Goodvertising (from Thames & Hudson) who is visiting South Africa in the run-up to the COP17/CMP7 conference being held in Durban, 28 November – 9 December 2011. Which is why the lack of public debate on and interest in COP17 here is so surprising to him.