Mr. Splashy Pants is a humpback whale. Now, this may seem like he would not have much experience with internet marketing, but he is, in fact, a direct product of it. And the lesson he has to teach about the internet is not only invaluable, but perhaps the most important one of all. But first, let me back up a bit and quickly tell you his story.
In 2007, the Japanese government allowed whaling of 50 humpbacks in the area of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Greenpeace launched a counter-campaign, planning to tag a few whales with tracking chips and show their movements. In an effort to personify these whales, and raise awareness of the cause, Greenpeace turned to the web, to name one of these whales. They garnered 11,000 names, which they whittled down to a final 30, and opened a poll. Among the final 30 names was, you guessed it... Mr. Splashy Pants.
In 2007, the Japanese government allowed whaling of 50 humpbacks in the area of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Greenpeace launched a counter-campaign, planning to tag a few whales with tracking chips and show their movements. In an effort to personify these whales, and raise awareness of the cause, Greenpeace turned to the web, to name one of these whales. They garnered 11,000 names, which they whittled down to a final 30, and opened a poll. Among the final 30 names was, you guessed it... Mr. Splashy Pants.
“Vote for Mr. Splashy Pants” soon went viral, as blogs and websites such as Reddit, BoingBoing and Digg all began re-posting the story, and giving opinions. A meme was even created, by the staff at Reddit, (shown below on the left) supporting the name Mr. Splashy Pants. The name quickly rose in the ranks, from 5% of the vote to over 70% in a single day.
Some at Greenpeace, as well as other environmental organizations were sincerely dismayed by the frivolity of Mr. Splashy Pants as a potential name, but complaining only seemed to add fuel to the fire. Greenpeace extended voting, honestly due to a technical problem, but also perhaps with the belief that cooler heads would eventually prevail.
Reddit joined in once again, with the “Fighting Splashy Pants” meme (depicted on the right side above.) Other websites joined in the push, Facebook groups formed, all in an effort to keep Mr. Splashy Pants at the head of the line. As Russell Davies from Brandrepublic.com wrote at the time, “the internet can mobilize the opinion of thousands of people…who would never write a letter or join a demo, but will happily forward an email or click on a voting button.” And vote they did, all with their browsers.
The amazing result of this contest, there were about 150,000 total votes; almost 120,000 votes for Mr. Splashy Pants, with the next highest name garnering a little more than 4,000. Mr. Splashy Pants was obviously a landslide winner, and Greeenpeace accepted the inevitable, and even created a merchandising campaign around the name. They thanked the communities that created the buzz, the hype that helped convince the Japanese government to disallowed whaling of humpbacks.
So, why is this story important nearly 7 years later? And what does Mr. Splashy Pants tell us about internet marketing?
Well, he doesn't actually tell us anything (he is a whale, so we don’t understand him, and to my knowledge he has never accessed the internet) but this story does teach a vital lesson about the internet in general. Once something is launched into the cyber-world, it ceases to be yours and yours alone. As Alexis Ohanion, one of the founders of Reddit, said when telling the Mr. Splashy Pants story, “Once out, you no longer control the message, and that is ok.” The message becomes ours, as it is shaped and influenced by all those who interact with it.
Laura McCormack
For more information about Mr. Splashy Pants, see the following:
No comments:
Post a Comment