The Issue with Global Warming: Poor Branding
Monday, April 21st, 2008
Posted by Jenn Lowther
The first time I heard the term global warming I thought ‘what’s the big deal, I could go for some warmer temperatures’. I know I’m not the only one who thought this - particularly since I live in Canada and the temperature can get rather frigid. So things warm up a bit who cares. I think this may have been one of the issues that slowed the main stream’s adoption of the issue. I now say that global warming wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t make things so damn cold! This observation brought me to my conclusion that the term global Warming is a misnomer.
Now consider some other naming possibilities that were open to the scientists
- Global Cooling
- Weather Suck Fest
- Endless Winter
- Perpetual Storm Generator
- Bat Sh*t Crazy Weather System Generator
*Update: I’ve gotten some excellent suggestions in the comments on better names, so good that I thought I’d add them to the post
- Atmosphere Cancer - Sporkist
- Pollution Death - Dario
Obviously most of these names are superfluous and are used strictly to demonstrate my point. These are names that people would pay attention to as they don’t sound all warm and fuzzy like the easter bunny, unlike global warming.
**Thanks to Rebecca for sending me the picture
These names are also more along the lines of what we’ve been experiencing in Vancouver. Really, it’s almost the end of April and we are getting snow storms. We rarely even get snow storms in December! Normally, we have already flocked to the beach to bask in the sun. Seriously, I would have paid way more attention to the issue had they said “Guys, it’s going to make things colder…Winter will now be extended to the beginning of summer and summer isn’t going to be as warm and sunny as what you’re used to and just when you think the good weather has arrived, we’re going to give you more snow”.
**Thanks to Nigel for sending me the picture
It’s too late to rename global warming now (and people are starting to finally pay attention anyways), but it is a lesson for us to learn as we move forward. When naming something, make sure the name not only reflects the issue/business at hand, but also is something that will make people sit up and pay attention.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I like Seth Godin’s “Atmosphere cancer”:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/03/the_problem_wit.html
April 21st, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I understand you are being cheeky (whats new) but global warming refers to the overall temperature of the planet. Its that warming that causes what you are actually talking about: Climate Change
/seriousness
Great post and i’m inclined to agree w/ Godin. Imagine if it was called “Pollution Death”?
April 21st, 2008 at 1:56 pm
@sporkist - I love that name…much better than the ones I wrote.
@ Dario - I do realize where the naming came from, but the results of it are a bit of a misnomer. Still assert the bad branding of the term global warming!
* Think I’ll add your suggestions to the post. Great names!!
April 21st, 2008 at 2:01 pm
@Louder aka Jenn, i know you know. Just givin you the gears
April 21st, 2008 at 2:40 pm
You gotta credit Seth for those names not Dario and I
April 21st, 2008 at 6:15 pm
This post really made me laugh
Thanks Jenn,.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Global warming could lead to higher rates of skin cancer by amplifying the harmful effects of the sun’s rays, scientists said.
New evidence suggests that the same amount of sunshine becomes more likely to trigger cancer as temperature rises.
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:42 am
Al Gore aware of this very misnomer has, and continues to refer to it as the ‘Climate Crisis’. It turns out that the result of increased greenhouse gases will warm up the earth’s atmosphere and in turn there will be more extreme weather, both hot and cold, wet and dry.
It turns out Al has a sense of humo(u)r too. See his TEDTalk(http://twurl.nl/on2n6p).
Two more descriptive phrases to shock us into action.
Environmental Illness
Mother Nature Infanticide.
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:53 am
Temperature Inflation.
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Now they’ve discovered mass quantities of Methane gas being released into the air from the Alaskan Permafrost melting which will start heating the earth more and the lack of sea ice means the sun rays don’t get reflected as much which brings us back to Global Warming which still isn’t totally correct because we are receiving Seasonally Extreme Weather and not a total warming of all seasons.