The words China and pollution are often unintentional bedfellows.
Especially in Western media.
That said, without doubt the level of pollution here is much, much higher than many other countries, however I would also say that the level of pollution is more limited to cities rather than the country as a whole.
To be honest, I found the situation far worse when I lived in Hong Kong than I do living in Shanghai – though I appreciate that was driven by industry in Guangzhou, which was re-affirmed by the fact that when there was a national holiday in China, the weather in HK was amazing – but the fact is, now I’m the proud father of an awesome little boy, my awareness of air quality is even higher than it was before.
[If you’re in China and are interested in the air quality, you should download Airpocalypse … an app designed by my old planning colleague, Tom]
Anyway, the reason I say this is because a photo came out that showed the differing weather conditions over a period of a year.
Some caveats.
1. Not all of the ‘dark skies’ are pollution, some of it is just shitty, rainy skies.
2. This was done in Beijing, which has much, much, much worse pollution than Shanghai.
3. There is no additional caveat, I just like writing things in groups of 3.
I’m not trying to defend China/Beijing’s pollution … it’s bad and needs dealing with.
Even the government realise this. In the old days, pollution was just viewed as a negative byproduct of economic growth but now, they’re seeing the implications of this attitude and are responding by spending enormous amounts of money [they’re already the biggest investor in green tech] to try and change it. Not – I should add – just because they recognise the negative effects it’s having on their people’s health and their countries reputation … but because they still need to keep the engine of their economy burning and they have to find a new way to do it that won’t ultimately undermine their progress and development.
So yes, it’s because of self interest, but then, what isn’t where governments are concerned.
But there’s a bigger reason for writing this.
The fact is much of what the West write about China is skewed with prejudice and ignorance and so this picture – while bad – is to serve as a reminder that rather than blindly believe what is written in the newspapers or the internet, look into the facts and the context because then you’ll end up with a much clearer picture of what’s really happening.
Even clearer than a Beijing skyline.
Filed under: Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Comment, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Design, Innovation, Packaging, Pollution
Hello there.
Not that you asked, but yes – I did have a good birthday thank you very much.
I didn’t get anything stupid [which for me, means awesome] but it was lovely.
Jesus, how old do I sound!
Talking of old, I recently came across this …
Believe it or not, this photo is not all that old.
But what I love about it is that huge sticker declaring it to ‘never be obsolete’.
That’s some big claim.
It’s also a massive pile of bollocks.
Given the alleged breakthrough by Canadian company, D:Wave, all computers may soon be obsolete so for some company to suggest their 90’s PC Tower would be able to withstand decades of focused innovation and technological breakthrough is both massively misguided and massively misleading and anyone who fell for it deserves all they got.
But the other thing this photo did was remind me of the ‘stickers’.
Oh my god, back in the day, every computer had them.
Little logos explaining either what the machine claimed to do or the manufacturer of some of its components.
And people fell for it, because we didn’t know better and we were looking for some reassurance we weren’t being taken for a ride.
Even when they put a massive fucking sticker on it claiming ‘NEVER OBSOLETE’.
God we were gullible fools weren’t we and while I’d hope we have got past that, the fact is I know we haven’t.
Sure, the tech industry have started moving away from sticker pollution, but there’s a whole host of brands in a whole host of categories that have started taking it on. Just look at any car ad these days and it seems they have more logos on the page than words… which is why it seems this video is the perfect way to sign off this post.
Microsoft may no longer as bad as they once were, but it seems a lot of brands are still forgetting that confidence in your product is about what you don’t say, rather than what you do. By all means use channels to explain the benefits of your product … hell, you can even talk about who has been part of it’s development … but when it comes to the actual product, be focused and make it glorious.
I will go and lie down now.