No Pressure

October 1, 2010 1:40 PM

Sorry. Today we put up a mini-movie about 10:10 and climate change called 'No Pressure’. Many people found the resulting film extremely funny, but unfortunately some didn't and we sincerely apologise to anybody we have offended. As a result of these concerns we've taken it off our website. We won't be making any attempt to censor or remove other versions currently in circulation on the internet.
posted by thescientificmethhead (65 comments total)

I laughed. Then again, I'm a terrible person.
posted by brundlefly at 1:46 PM on October 1, 2010

Wow. That's like reverse-PR.
posted by donovan at 1:46 PM on October 1, 2010 [4 favorites]

Pretty funny video- the misstep is tying the 'no pressure' joke to a hot-button topic like climate change.
posted by potch at 1:47 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

whilst
posted by Avenger50 at 1:48 PM on October 1, 2010

Funny in a Gallagher-meets-Raimi sorta way, I guess. But nowhere near as funny as Raimi by himself.

Real smart strategy, though. You've got the defining problem of the twenty-first century, a thing that affects literally every living thing on the planet and necessitates the participation of basically everyone in the process of change, and you've got a bunch of powerful and intransigent political and economic opponents working overtime to make this universal human problem seem like a Manichean question of two competing political ideologies.

How to launch a broad public awareness and action campaign? Hey, I know - let's really play up that Manichean competing-worldviews thing! That's proven hugely convincing for the last 20 years of climate activism! That's why we've pretty much got this thing licked already!
posted by gompa at 1:49 PM on October 1, 2010 [8 favorites]

I ride my bike to work most days. This video makes me want to drive.
posted by seventyfour at 1:51 PM on October 1, 2010 [4 favorites]

Conform to all directives,
Remember obedience pays,
and when you watch your tv screen
remember that it works both ways!
posted by Catblack at 1:51 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

I was expecting the ad to be ANTI-environmental action, some sort of crazy conspiracy rant about "No pressure" and government action forcing people to do stuff like give up having running water or rounding folks up into prison camps given the fact that it always ends in a bloody, explosive pop.
posted by yeloson at 1:51 PM on October 1, 2010 [6 favorites]

I thought the same as yeloson. If a right-wing group was to make a hysterical, inflammatory, straw-mannish commerical misrepresenting the environmental movement, they could hardly do better than this.
posted by peep at 1:55 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]

I'm not sure what side this video represents. The people who are FOR 10:10, or the people who are AGAINST it?
posted by Faze at 1:55 PM on October 1, 2010

Holy shit, that was horrific. And incredibly stupid. I mean, if you wanted to provide the very worst possible kind of propaganda victory to opponents of making even the slightest changes in the name of averting climate change, I don't really think I could have come up with anything more jaw-droppingly appalling.

Tasteless, unfunny, and completely ineffective. Way to go, guys!
posted by kcds at 1:58 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]

Yeah, yeloson, I can understand how this would be misinterpreted by people who still don't believe we're harming the planet. Just cut out the actual message, add some ominous music and I think the message could be reversed.. I'm off to experiment.
posted by pyrex at 1:59 PM on October 1, 2010

Well, that was unpleasant.
posted by ocherdraco at 2:00 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]

If a right-wing group was to make a hysterical, inflammatory, straw-mannish commerical misrepresenting the environmental movement, they could hardly do better than this.

"Environmentalists talk about America’s land, water and air, but their movement has become mostly about expanding regulatory power over the American way of life."

- Big Green: Environmentalists aren’t really about clean air and water (admittedly, from the Washington Examiner)

These folks couldn't have made a worse commercial if they tried.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:01 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]

I love this commercial. I don't know why this is OK and a panda kicking your ass for not eating cheese isn't. Maybe I just like buttons.
posted by poe at 2:01 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

Well, that was unpleasant.

That's ok, you don't have to like it. No pressure.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 2:01 PM on October 1, 2010 [7 favorites]

Probably not the greatest of ideas in hindsight, but the "outrage" this video is generating is infinitely more pathetic.

If you think it even theoretically possible that the climate crisis is a conspiracy got up by liberals who want to kill children, you are already so moronic, or so deep in denial, that this video isn't going to change anything.

All the other objectors seem to be more sane people who are worried that it'll set back the cause. See above paragraph for why it won't.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 2:02 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

Also, remember: the denialists will use anything (eg. illegally obtained emails showing no evidence of malfeasance) to build their walls of denial, so the fact that they will (try to) use this, too, doesn't really say anything about anything.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 2:04 PM on October 1, 2010

I force myself to watch Glenn Beck to see what the other side is up to. And now I will have to watch this over and over again. I mean, I understand what peep is saying, that this is a parody of the anti-enviro view (a parody of a parody, I suppose); and, I get that the people who while shout "yaaaaaar envirofascists!" are going to do that anyway, but still, this just doesn't seem like a very good idea.
posted by oneironaut at 2:05 PM on October 1, 2010

Awwwkward.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 2:06 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

the fact that they will (try to) use this, too, doesn't really say anything about anything.

No, but the fact that this is repulsive and tasteless says something about something.
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse at 2:09 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

Meh, not funny, not inspiring, not even really threatening...and VERY repetitive. What were they trying to do here?
posted by toekneebullard at 2:10 PM on October 1, 2010

Of course, if you just think it was too gory for your tastes, or a bit dull and unfunny, that's a far more legit criticism. The idea that it's horribly miscalculated or damaging is the only thing I'm criticizing here as ridiculous.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 2:12 PM on October 1, 2010

I also enjoyed the ending twist of the reveal that it wasn't actually from the opposition. I'm not very offended, though, but it could have used an editor. You don't start with the schoolkids popping, you build to that as the final bang. As it was, they start out with the biggest reaction-getting shot, and then just sort of meander aimlessly repeating lesser versions of it. Maybe they were angling to get hired by SNL.
posted by Drastic at 2:12 PM on October 1, 2010

Also, remember: the denialists will use anything (eg. illegally obtained emails showing no evidence of malfeasance) to build their walls of denial, so the fact that they will (try to) use this, too, doesn't really say anything about anything.

I totally read "denialists" as "dentists," and that mental image is totally worth having read this thread. Maniacal dentists, bent on destroying the world!
posted by ocherdraco at 2:20 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

Where's all of the uproar? I usually hear about uproars in the nonprofit world, as it's kind of my job. This time, I really haven't seen anything.
posted by roll truck roll at 2:22 PM on October 1, 2010

I thought the same as yeloson. If a right-wing group was to make a hysterical, inflammatory, straw-mannish commerical misrepresenting the environmental movement, they could hardly do better than this.

Is it still misrepresentation if it mirrors the way they present themselves?
posted by eeeeeez at 2:23 PM on October 1, 2010

Spaghetti sauce is people!

(My head assplodes...)
posted by chavenet at 2:24 PM on October 1, 2010

Heh. Americans are so funny when they don't get the joke.
posted by i_cola at 2:35 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

My reaction to the 10:10 thing was just ick.
Reminded me of why I walked out of Fargo. Also ick.

On the other hand, back in 1984, I thought this was hilarious.
Maybe I'm just getting old.

I've never seen "Blackadder" by the 10:10 filmmaker, so lacked a clue.
Unwarned is disarmed.

It'd be a shame if the 10:10 thing puts people off pushing the real red button.
posted by hank at 2:41 PM on October 1, 2010

The mini-movie was somewhat amusing. Far more amusing were the YouTube comments.
posted by fredludd at 3:14 PM on October 1, 2010

We'd like to thank the 50+ film professionals and 40+ actors and extras and who gave their time and equipment to the film for free.

That's not what the commercial showed.
posted by telstar at 3:34 PM on October 1, 2010

Yeah, not offended or anything, but it's not very good. Is Staples carbon neutral or something?
posted by monkeymadness at 3:48 PM on October 1, 2010

hank, I can assure you that Blackadder, unlike this, is very funny. I do not doubt or deny anthropogenic climate change but god damn, son, I doubt and deny Richard Curtis's ability to reach out to other human beings. (Ever since Four Weddings and a Funeral, in fact.)

I'm afraid this commercial can only have come from . . . well . . . an ivory tower, a place so self-sorted and insulated from other viewpoints that it seems like a refreshing, delightful fantasy to say, in effect, "OMG you guys what if we could just explode those idiots?" Like most adolescent fantasies, it is entirely natural, and helps no one.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:12 PM on October 1, 2010 [4 favorites]

Other reactions:

Climate blogger Anthony Watts: What were they thinking? They weren’t, because this is going to have the exact opposite effect they intended it to have. I don’t have words to describe my disgust with the video.

Czech physicist Lubos Motl: Yes, they will simply kill all people who are openly skeptical: the "No Pressure" video proposes a "final solution" of the problem with the AGW skeptics. No pressure. Just a little bit of pressure that is needed to press a red button and all skeptics in the world will explode in bloodbath. It was their choice - and the alarmist killers will continue smiling. It's excellent, isn't it?

Writer and pundit Steve Milloy: I request that Sony Corporation immediately disassociate itself from the climate activist group 10:10 given the group's advocacy of violence. 10:10 has produced a video that graphically detonates school children and adults who do not agree to be climate activists. Sony Corporation is listed on 1010global.org as a supporting organization. Does Sony condone the advocacy of violence in the climate public policy debate?
posted by thescientificmethhead at 4:21 PM on October 1, 2010

I actually thought it was kind of funny, but it went on quite too long. You need to either stop it after the first vignette or vary it somehow (have the button do other things, maybe have it malfunction one time.)

Countess Elena: "I'm afraid this commercial can only have come from . . . well . . . an ivory tower, a place so self-sorted and insulated from other viewpoints that it seems like a refreshing, delightful fantasy to say, in effect, "OMG you guys what if we could just explode those idiots?""

I think that's a little extreme.

There's a long history of organizations putting out offensive, ridiculous, or confusing ads. Most of the time, it's young designers doing gratis work, looking to make a name for themselves. They produce work that has very little to do with making the client happy and everything to do with earning awards (this kind of stuff always gets awards, for reasons I don't really understand). But that doesn't seem to be what's going on here. Richard Curtis doesn't need to make a name for himself.
posted by roll truck roll at 4:23 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

Aw, lighten up, it's pure win :)
posted by londonmark at 4:25 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

where can i get one of those buttons?
posted by fuzzypantalones at 5:03 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

This kind of dark humor does not resonate with many people. Imagine going for laughs at the big family Thanksgiving dinner with:

"Mother, mother, why do I keep running in circles?"
posted by Mblue at 5:16 PM on October 1, 2010

British humor. Heh.
posted by 3.2.3 at 5:46 PM on October 1, 2010

I guess you guys didn't like the "It's raining Polar Bears" Planestupid one either?
posted by Redhush at 5:50 PM on October 1, 2010

thescientificmethhead: "Other reactions:

Czech physicist Lubos Motl: Yes, they will simply kill all people who are openly skeptical: the "No Pressure" video proposes a "final solution...

He goes on to anguish this: But I am afraid that the lives of others - not necessarily the white kids on the video above (Philip and Tracy, RIP), but perhaps the lives of black kids in Africa and elsewhere - are genuinely threatened by the now-militant AGW movement that has inherited pretty much all the methods from Nazism, communism, and others. As they have demonstrated, they are surely not repelled by the idea that they will have to kill many people to achieve their insane dreams.

Many of the comments on YT are variations on these themes too. Nice going, video-twerps. All that work to give the other side their "oh, the huge manatee" moment.
posted by telstar at 7:03 PM on October 1, 2010

Aw, lighten up, it's pure win :)

I'll say that about the next thing you hate and we'll see how it makes you feel.
posted by setanor at 8:37 PM on October 1, 2010

Tee Hee!
posted by vorpal bunny at 10:00 PM on October 1, 2010

This is inexcusable. The people who made it and the people who think it's funny need to take a long, hard look in the mirror.

"If only I could use violence and bullying to get rid of the people who disagree with me. Heh, heh. Just a joke."
posted by straight at 12:26 AM on October 2, 2010

Heh. Americans are so funny when they don't get the joke.
posted by i_cola at 10:35 PM on October 1

I used to think that. Now I just find it sad.
posted by Decani at 3:30 AM on October 2, 2010

This is inexcusable. The people who made it and the people who think it's funny need to take a long, hard look in the mirror.

"If only I could use violence and bullying to get rid of the people who disagree with me. Heh, heh. Just a joke."
posted by straight at 8:26 AM on October 2

Oh for fuck's sake. Do you always take absolutely everything completely literally. Do you honestly think this video is actually advocating killing people who don't agree with its message? Gah.
posted by Decani at 3:34 AM on October 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

It didn't win me over until they exploded David Ginola. Now I am a fan of whatever the hell that was.
posted by afx237vi at 7:18 AM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

i just think its sad they had to kill all those people to make that ad
posted by klangklangston at 8:29 AM on October 2, 2010 [3 favorites]

I found myself grinning, half out disbelief they'd produce that sort of ad and not think about how people would take it, and half because it's actually funny. Not that funny, but still amusing in the way cartoon violence is amusing.

The comments on the 10:10 site are fantastic, though.
"I sincerely hope that you face charges for that film; it really is comparable with advocating gas chambres or suggesting people are rats."

"Utterly vile. I would send you all to Auschwitz to see the results of a willingness to murder people with whom you disagree. Eco-nazis indeed!"
[in other words, I disagree with you and am willing to kill you for being willing to kill people who disagree with you. ]

"You people are sick-minded! You have blown your agenda into the open. I am now certain that eco-groups are supportive of human extermination. I pull my entire support from your cause. "
posted by BungaDunga at 9:23 AM on October 2, 2010

Funny. Sort of the run-on type of joke as done by the Monty Python group (eg the Spanish Inquisition) Therefore, I laughed.

As a serious promotional piece.... um, no. Gratuitously crude and not near enough relevance.

Still... funny.
posted by Artful Codger at 9:54 AM on October 2, 2010

I don't disagree with at least half of you, but I have to say I am seeing a lot of underestimating of how much your lives (or your families' lives down the road) are going to fundamentally change if this ecological savagery continues unchecked.
posted by tapesonthefloor at 10:51 AM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

misuse of radiohead, that's for sure.
posted by alona at 1:31 PM on October 2, 2010

I chuckled. Sue me.

However, did anyone stop to think the message (however poorly delivered) was not that we should kill people with differing opinions, but that the consequences of AGW will be an increasing death toll from heat waves, disease, ?

It also sends a very depressing message about humanity that one misguided ad is provoking some people to rescind their advocacy for the cause.
posted by nightengine at 4:42 PM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

But is it really? I tend to think the "I was with you guys until this ad came along, now I'll just set fire to this pile of coal" comments are from people who never gave a toss to begin with.
posted by Bangaioh at 5:16 PM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's terrible. The right wing blogs are all over this. Anybody here defending this is in denial about the adverse effect this stupid film is going to have. Thanks a lot, you dumb English fucks, with your so-called " special " brand of humor. Should have stuck with Benny Hill and his underwear jokes. Far less damaging than this shit.

And also, equally, why is the left wing blogosphere in the US so eerily quite about this? Tacit approval? Embarrassment?

These videos are disgusting.
posted by monospace at 7:11 PM on October 2, 2010

However, did anyone stop to think the message (however poorly delivered) was not that we should kill people with differing opinions, but that the consequences of AGW will be an increasing death toll from heat waves, disease, ?

Oh God no please, please, don't look beneath the surface, don't look beyond the literal and obvious and simple, don't look for subtlety. You'll frighten the fucking spoon-fed imbeciles.
posted by Decani at 8:24 PM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

These videos are disgusting.
posted by monospace at 3:11 AM on October 3

Balls. Your lack of proportion and perspective is.
posted by Decani at 8:26 PM on October 2, 2010

The title of the video campaign (No Pressure) is accurate. The skeptical non-activists are not pressured at all to change their beliefs.
posted by telstar at 1:52 AM on October 3, 2010

Reminded me of why I walked out of Fargo.

Anyone who walked out of Fargo is not allowed to opine on anything recorded, filmed, etc. That is all.

It's terrible. The right wing blogs are all over this.

Oh come on now. A lot of the comments here seem to imply that a rational, well-thought out, intelligent ad about AGW would suddenly sway the "right-wing" denialists. This is the only ridiculous thing I have seen expressed in this thread.
posted by IvoShandor at 11:57 PM on October 3, 2010

However, did anyone stop to think the message (however poorly delivered) was not that we should kill people with differing opinions, but that the consequences of AGW will be an increasing death toll from heat waves, disease, ?

... and those consequences will only affect those people not "doing their part"? Sorry, I still don't see it. It would be more effective if they pushed the button and a certain island somewhere went underwater.

Americans are so funny when they don't get the joke.

The "joke" (I think) is that when you're killing the planet, you're really killing yourself?

Or it's a sly satire on how "climate-change skeptics" view conservationists?

... OK, you're probably right. Can anyone explain the intended message, though?

It also sends a very depressing message about humanity that one misguided ad is provoking some people to rescind their advocacy for the cause.

I doing see anyone doing that ("oh, those 10:10 bastards. I'm going to leave all my lights on, run my dryer constantly, and switch to disposable diapers now!")

I will be participating in THE MIRACULOUS 10.10.2010 CLOTHESLINE REVIVAL. I think it's a good idea. I think positive events like that are more effective than suspiciously vague black humor.

Personally, I thought the commercial was both funny (in the heads blowing up funny kind of way) and ill-advised, if the intent is to encourage people to "do their part."

A lot of the comments here seem to imply that a rational, well-thought out, intelligent ad about AGW would suddenly sway the "right-wing" denialists.

I don't think anyone is doing that. However, I think all of us know people who are "neutral" or uninformed about using energy and resources. How many people recycle and compost now? How many people's minds were changed by An Inconvenient Truth?

Commercial industry is constantly working against the message. People need reminders. This commercial is not a good reminder.

Again, if anyone can explain the intent of the message to this clueless American, I'd appreciate it.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:00 AM on October 4, 2010

mrgrimm: "I don't think anyone is doing that. However, I think all of us know people who are "neutral" or uninformed about using energy and resources. How many people recycle and compost now? How many people's minds were changed by An Inconvenient Truth?"

There's also people who think that "they're doing their part" but, when pressed, don't quite seem to be doing anything besides reading environmentalist websites and recycling bottles. Maybe the commercial could have someone pushing a button and blowing up people's cars and suburban homes.
posted by roll truck roll at 10:12 AM on October 4, 2010

No Pressure: the fall-out from Richard Curtis's explosive climate film - Adam Vaugn, guardian.co.uk

Richard Curtis's snuff movie: A satire? A canny marketing strategy? I don't think so - James Delingpole, telegraph.co.uk

Richard Curtis' climate change video featuring exploding kids sparks fury - sify news
posted by thescientificmethhead at 11:24 AM on October 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Maybe the commercial could have someone pushing a button and blowing up people's cars and suburban homes.

That would have been a little better, but still askew. It's the cars and houses that are destroying the planet; the results of climate change won't be cars and houses blowing up (nor people). At least that won't be the first noticeable negative results.

It's all confusing and perhaps too subtly nuanced for me.

On preview, from the Guardian's compilation of reactions, this comment from Jamie Andrews rings true for me:

The Curtis film was in my opinion ill-advised because the satirical elements could appeal only to those who are already familiar with the tension between persuasion and coercion, yet it did not seek to address the issue explicitly, leaving the 10:10 campaign and its supporters exposed to charges such as those raised by [Telegraph blogger James] Delingpole and his self-congratulatory cohort of followers.

i would also agree here:

The widespread use of the term of ‘Ecofascism’ is very interesting in this context, because it exposes the root cause of the vast majority of anti-climate change sentiment: a fear of individual liberties being curtailed in pursuit of the collective goal of stabilising carbon emissions.

This is an important issue. Even as a fully paid-up climate change activist who is incredibly concerned about our lack of action to reduce emissions, I have to admit that I’ve not witnessed much real engagement with this prickly political problem from environmentalists.

It's frustrating to see magazines exclaiming that "you don't need to give up driving to go green!" -- when yes, yes you do!
posted by mrgrimm at 12:04 PM on October 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Anything that can incite the cruel James Delingpole to such hyperbole must be good.
posted by Neiltupper at 4:31 PM on October 20, 2010