Meatless Mondays at URI
Going into this project I knew I was not going to be able to create something through graphic design because I am not artistically inclined. This left me with options to do a blog post, press release, video, or radio advertisement. I knew if I were to do a radio advertisement I would have to make sure it was still viewed as propaganda by, “activating strong emotions, attacking opponents, or simplifying information to shape people’s attitudes or behaviors” otherwise it would just be seen as an advertisement (Defining Propaganda, Hobbs). So, as I browsed through which topic I wanted to do I stumbled on “Meatless Mondays”. As someone who has tried going vegetarian because of the horrible effects of the meat industry, I thought this could be a great topic of interest.
My creative strategy was to choose a medium that would appeal and spread to most college students. The topic “Meatless Mondays” was in hopes of changing college dining halls around the nation to stop serving all meat products on Mondays. While the Do Something website suggested changing all colleges to “Meatless Mondays” I focused on a population I could reach- the University of Rhode Island students. Radio advertisements while they are not as popular as a poster on a college campus I felt it would make a lasting impression. I found this medium could work with my audience because my advertisement could be played on WRIU (the University of Rhode Island’s radio station). My advertisement was supposed to be upbeat and cheerful while also addressing the serious problems we have from eating meat.
Eating red meat has been correlated to heart disease and diabetes in individuals (Battaglia, E., et al., 2015). Having knowledge of how to prevent diseases that can lead to death is powerful to get people to change their behavior. Research also shows correlations between the meat industry and climate change. Industrialized meat companies are known for deforestation and releasing high amounts of greenhouse gases (Graham, R., 2022). Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide trap heat in our atmosphere which is a large contributing factor to climate change (Graham, R., 2022). In my radio advertisement, I touch base on both of these problems of eating meat. I felt I did not want to emphasize one problem over the other because I wanted to reach the biggest audience. So, by not emphasizing climate change I was able to reach students who may not believe in climate change by discussing health-related issues. This is the same for not emphasizing health-related issues in case someone does not believe meat is harmful to their body.
By touching on justice of climate change and health my radio advertisement used glittering generalities as a propaganda device. A glittering generality is, “an attempt to sway emotions through the use of ideals or virtues in a large, general way” (Seven Propaganda Techniques, Hobbs). Compared to the other propaganda techniques I thought this would work best for changing thoughts on someone’s food behavior.
Another strategy I used for my radio advertisement was by using repetition. In the beginning, I address the problems and keep listing them throughout in order to emphasize the problems of eating meat. In order to get people to want to go meatless there has to be a great deal of emphasis on why we shouldn’t eat meat. I think by repeating myself I was able to get people to question less of the information.
A way I encouraged students to vote for “Meatless Mondays” in the dining hall was by emphasizing the quality of meat they were eating. We learned from Nazi Germany that targeting audiences is easier when individuals are not well off and need guidance. I described our dining hall’s meat as the “wrong choice” and “processed low-quality” which makes having no meat look better. What I attempted to do was make the audience think they have no good options on their plate, so it would instill fear and guilt. Emphasizing the problem of meat could make students more appreciative of having a no-meat option one day a week.
As I said before I attempted to instill fear and guilt, but the tone of voice I used in my radio advertisement was upbeat and hopeful. Having these two contradictions I was hoping to create a level of dissonance in people. When they listen to the advertisement they’d be able to hear someone talking about something very important but want to change because it’s happy and hopeful.
I really enjoyed this LEAP project and had a lot of fun coming up with what I was going to say. I think majoring in Communications has given me a lot of opportunities to do public speaking, however, it hasn’t given me much experience in just recording my voice. As I scrolled through all the different topic areas on the Do Something website I found so many different topic areas I would enjoy exposing myself to. I ultimately decided on this topic because I want to spread that even one day a week of being vegetarian could have long-lasting benefits for our health and the world. I am unable to upkeep a vegetarian diet for health reasons, but once a week is possible and I think a great stepping stone for people who can do this diet!
Something that I struggled with in this project was finding a medium I would be able to successfully do. I am not someone who is artistically inclined, but I would have loved to have been able to do a poster. I think a poster could have worked really well for this message and audience, but there was no possibility of making it look half-decent. Also, knowing my message could only be broadcast to people who are not hard of hearing made me dislike my medium. A lot of people, including my family, struggle with hearing, and not making it accessible to them is something I acknowledge, leaving me to want to create more mediums to spread my message.
Citations
Battaglia Richi E, Baumer B, Conrad B, Darioli R, Schmid A, Keller U. Health Risks Associated with Meat Consumption: A Review of Epidemiological Studies. Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2015;85(1–2):70–8. doi: 10.1024/0300–9831/a000224. PMID: 26780279.
Graham, R. (2022, December 21). Why is eating meat bad for the environment and climate change? Sentient Media. https://sentientmedia.org/why-is-eating-meat-bad-for-the-environment/#:~:text=Meat%20production%20significantly%20contributes%20to,radiation%20and%20prevent%20heat%20escaping.
Hobbs, R., (2023) Seven Propaganda Techniques. Pathwright https://propaganda.pathwright.com/library/propaganda-history-57773/530368/path/step/99035413/?source=post_page-----8eb866b851a7--------------------------------
Hobbs, R., (2023) Defining Propaganda. Pathwright https://propaganda.pathwright.com/library/mind-over-media-57772/530366/path/step/99035872/
