Recently
a video appeared on You Tube which was a stab at Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth", which, if one were the "right" mind set, could discourage a person from going to see it. It was an unverbalized critical review, using images each with their own message. The fact that the video itself has gotten such lousy ratings says more about the intelligence of the You Tube community than it does about the "quality" of the production.
If this video were linked on some of the right wing nut sites and it might get rave reviews just based on the residual hate for The Clinton Adminstration and the "Gore as Boring" talking points of the 2000 (un)democratic ejection of our constitution.
First of all, the video was anonymously posted on You Tube, implying it was made by some Middle American just poking fun at Gore's documentary. This implies that the maker of the video is just like you and me, creating a bond of ordinary guyism.
Next, the video depicts Gore as a nemisis of Batman, The Penguin, complete with top hat and umbrella. The Penguin, if you remember, is the villian with the irritating voice and multipurpose weapon, escape tool and hypnotizing umbrella. So right away Gore is presented as the gentleman BAD GUY, without ever even calling him one.
The audience is a SMALL flock of penguins, wide eyed and cute, who get progressively less wide eyed as the video drones on. That drone is Penguin Gore's voice. There are no words, only a drone of nonsense that is indecipherable.
Pictures flash on a tiny movie screen and Penguin Gore points with his umbrella, as there are flashes back to the diminishing flock of penguins... The few that are left go completely asleep. This says, again without saying so... "Penguin Gore is BORING, even other penguins don't want to watch him."
Then there's a juxtaposition between X-men Part Three and An Inconvenient Truth. It shows enthralled crowds at X-men, and three people snoozing at "An Inconvenient Truth". This shouts: "Hey, go see something really exciting with everyone else... You'll be bored and ALONE at "An Inconvenient Truth."
Words in this video are flashed so quickly on the screen they are nearly subliminal, and indeed at the end Gore Penguin rotates his umbrella hypnotizing the three penguins left. This leaves the impression that dumb birds just can't think for themselves. They are hypnotized.
Holy Global Warming, Batman, Who made this diabolical filmette?
Apparently it's a Public Relation's firm whose clients include such notables as GH Bush, Exxon, BIG Pharma, McDonalds and the junta government of Burma...
But when the Wall Street Journal tried to find the guy who posted the film "Al Gore's Penguin Army" -- listed on YouTube as a 29-year-old -- they found the movie didn't come from an amateur working out of his basement.
The film actually came from a slick Republican public relations firm called DCI, which just happens to have oil giant Exxon as a client.
Exxon denies knowing anything about the film, and DCI says, "We do not disclose the names of our clients, nor do we discuss the work we do on behalf of our clients."
http://abcnews.go.com/... RSSFeeds0312
The media analyst Sourcewatch Group has this to say about the DCI Group :
The DCI Group calls itself a "strategic public affairs consulting firm" and boasts that it handles corporate issues like political campaigns. "We are a political firm and all of our partners have political campaign experience. We thrive in competitive circumstances, and are used to fluid situations and tight deadlines," their website claims. DCI Group offers services that include national, state and local lobbying; coalition building; and generating "grasstops" and constituent support for issues. The firm has been linked to several industry-funded coalitions that pose as grassroots organizations. Perhaps it comes as no surprise as DCI advertises its ability to provide "third party support" to clients. "Corporations seldom win alone," the group's website says. "Whatever the issue, whatever the target--elected officials, regulators or public opinion--you need reliable third party allies to advocate your cause. We can help you recruit credible coalition partners and engage them for maximum impact. It's what we do best."[2]
snip
Viral Videos and Global Warming
In August 2006, the Wall Street Journal reported on a short video (http://youtube.com/...) titled "Al Gore's Penguin Army," which belittled the threat of global warming (suggesting viewers "stop exhaling") and made fun of the former vice-president, whose 2006 movie "An Inconvenient Truth" stressed the need for action on global warming. The video was posted on the video-sharing website YouTube and had a "home-made, humorous quality." Yet the filmmaker's email "originated from a computer registered to DCI Group," reported the Wall Street Journal. [11] (http://online.wsj.com/...)
The video was promoted by ads that appeared when people searched for the phrases "Al Gore" or "Global Warming" on the Google search engine, but these ads "were removed shortly after The Wall Street Journal contacted DCI." The firm "declines to say whether or not DCI made the anti-Gore penguin video," but an Exxon Mobil spokesperson said they "did not fund" and "did not approve it." What is certain is that "political operatives, public relations experts and ad agencies" are increasingly using video-sharing websites like YouTube to shape public opinion. Ogilvy & Mather "plans to post amateur-looking videos on Web sites to spare word-of-mouth buzz about Foster's beer," and AT&T has used YouTube to post videos against net neutrality. [12] (http://online.wsj.com/...)
DCI's Tech Central Station website has also "sought to raise doubts about the science of global warming and about Mr. Gore's film." [13]
DCI Group tends to take on clients who need some heavy duty redirection of public opinion to further their interests. It doesn't seem to matter to this outfit if what they publish is TRUE or not, only that it influences people to BELIEVE what their clients want them to believe. Do you remember the book Fast Food Nation that created such a public disturbance and impacted the bottom line of Fast food restaurant all over the country? McDonalds hired DCI to handle the public awareness created by that book... Big tobacco and Big drugs have also used their services:
DCI Group specializes in what the Washington Monthly describes as "corporate-financed grass roots organizing" campaigns. Group principals have a long history of opposing public health initiatives, working on behalf of the tobacco industry, and relying on "front groups" that masquerade as independent and objective organizations. According to the New York Times, Chris LaCivita, a DCI associate, worked for Swift Boat Veterans for Truth as a media adviser. Timothy N. Hyde, a DCI founding partner, was the senior director of public issues at R. J. Reynolds from 1988 to 1997. Hyde oversaw all of RJR's PR campaigns. The Associated Press reported in June 2001 that Tom Synhorst, the chairman of DCI, "has been linked to South Carolina push polls in the 2000 Republican primary that attacked candidate John McCain as 'a cheat, a liar and a fraud.'"
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/...
DCI has lobbied for Burma as well:
The brutal ruling junta of Burma dropped its last foreign-agent lobbyists, the Republican PR firm DCI Group, in 2003. Neither Syria nor North Korea has an active foreign-agent lobbying contract, according to Justice Department records.
So fellow Kossaks don't be fooled by the plastering of false images on people like Al Gore who have the guts to speak Inconvenient (for some BIG INTERESTS) Truths.. Look beyond the spinning by PR firms that provide an umbrella of protection for the fallout created when the public becomes aware, informed and active. Whenever the truth is being spun, look for the source. You may just find the REAL criminal elements.