The Change
One of the themes that came up over and over as I researched Generation X and interviewed people for my book Slackonomics is this idea that Xers have come to the world of politics and social activism in a completely different way than Baby-boomers did. In fact, it’s almost the reverse and in some ways more sustainable. Boomers started as starry-eyed idealists who were demanding big revolutionary change (only to be disappointed and retreat to a world of private luxury — not all, of course, but that is the predominant trajectory). Xers were never very idealistic and took a pragmatic approach first to their own personal lives and THEN — if so inclined — translated that small-scale, individualistic and pragmatic approach to the world of politics and social change.
I mention Architecture for Humanity as one example in the book, but there are many others started by people who have translated the skills they learned in the private sector to the public realm without ever raising a protest sign. The above campaign — designed by a Chapel Hill branding and strategy firm The Change — is another example that I recently discovered. The founder, Jerry Stifelman, worked in traditional advertising as a brand strategist, creative director and writer for household names such as MTV, Banana Republic and Mountain Dew. But since 2004 he’s repurposed his skills to, as the company’s positioning line states, “grow demand for positive change in the world.”
To learn more about the above campaign to get the auto industry to change its ways, click here.