How to make a message stick
slogans + Caleb on Ziwe + life without trending audio + the book that broke a reading rut
Kaley on a hard week and sticky messaging.
TW: animal death
Last week something terrible happened in my life and it’s made me think a lot about Bob Barker.
Readers and friends may know that my husband and I have fostered dogs on and off for the last year. It’s been a source of delight, emotional fulfillment, and helped me heal from my own dog passing last year. But last week, with our fifth foster dog and first since we moved back to Chicago, the worst possible scenario came to pass. My foster was sadly diagnosed to have a congenital condition and the rescue organization made the decision to euthanize her. Even though it was tragic and I felt frustratingly powerless, I rationally understood why the organization made the decisions they did. I understand why they aren’t able to give agency to foster humans or expend too many resources to save one dog. I get why they have to take a utilitarian approach to saving the most dogs they can. That said, it’s still pretty fucking upsetting.
At the risk of sounding like a wannabe LinkedIn influencer, I’m gonna post through it.
As I’ve spent the last week processing, my neurodivergent, internet-broken brain keeps circling back to something surprising: PSA slogans. Specifically, “Adopt, don’t shop” and “Have your pet spayed or neutered.”
The second likely evokes as specific a memory for you as it does for me: laying on the couch as a kid, watching an unnaturally tanned man with a skinny mic on my TV. Bob Barker, beloved patron saint of sick days, made the sterilization plea his signature sign off at the end of every episode of The Price is Right.
The slogans got my marketer’s brain thinking about the power of specificity, repetition, and stickiness.
Obviously it’s not possible to precisely attribute a number to the animals saved by the slogans, or the campaigns behind them, but it feels reasonable to believe they contributed to cultural change that materially improved the welfare of millions of animals.
Did you know?:
In 1970, 13.5 million animals were euthanized each year in the U.S. according to estimates by the Humane Society.
Bob Barker used “have your pets spayed and neutered” as his sign off from 1979 to 2007. That’s nearly 30 years, almost 6,000 episodes of saying the same thing.
The "Adopt, Don't Shop" campaign began in the 1980s by the L.A.-based nonprofit Last Chance for Animals and gained further popularity after Oprah aired a special on puppy mills in 2008 (who knew??)
Today the hashtag #adoptdontshop accompanies more than 60 million posts on Instagram (and lots of polarized discourse on TikTok)
In 2011 an estimated 2.6 million dogs were euthanized each year. Today, it’s less than 400,000.
I don’t know his politics, but surely Bob Barker cared about issues beyond this one. And when you think about it, it’s pretty odd to make pet sterilization your #1 thing. But he, along with his wife who he credited as the driver behind his animal advocacy, recognized that he could use his literal microphone to highlight the variable at the root of an issue he cared a lot about and maybe, over time, it would penetrate the public psyche. And it did!
It makes me wonder whether it’s more impactful to be single minded about an issue in order to affect positive change. And whether it’s even possible for a person like me who cares about a lot of (too many?) things. I have a lot of strong opinions on what would make the world better. I’ve never been a single issue voter. But maybe, in a time where noise is the constant and breaking through feels impossible, should I be a single issue advocate?
Sound off in the comments what you think I should make my issue!
This week in Cool Shiny Culture:
📚 Kaley’s Cool: I devoured Tia Williams’ A Love Song for Ricki Wilde. In it, a modern day florist meets a jazz pianist out of the Harlem Renaissance in a story about fated mates bound to each other across time. This book broke me out of a reading rut with the exact vibes I didn’t know I was looking for. I loved it, but would recommend reading her first novel Seven Days in June first. Also, her cover artist Sarah Congdon deserves a big shout out, as it’s beautiful and attention grabbing in the sea of pastel illustrations that make up today’s contemporary romance genre! 🙌🏻
🔇 Megan’s Cool: As is tradition at the end of the year, people are recapping their experiences through content trends. This year, one in particular has caught my eye: life without trending audio. This trend celebrates the authentic sounds of users' memories as opposed to setting them to romanticized (& popular) audios that often go viral at the end of the year. It’s super interesting to me that the trend rejects the defining organizing principle of TikTok: sound bites. Plus, it’s a fitting callback to this year’s TikTok x UMG dispute that led to the label pulling their music from the platform for a while.
🎙️Kaley’s Shiny: Caleb Hearon gets grilled by Ziwe. I’ve been part of the Hearon Hive for a while now, so I’m delighted by the cultural momentum he’s seized after his scene stealing role in HBO’s Sweethearts. His interview with Ziwe is iconic. Come for him trying to get Ziwe cancelled by the gay community, stay for his perfectly matching mischievous chemistry with Ziwe.
🏡Megan’s Shiny: Maybe it’s because I’m a proud Angelino, but I ran to watch Netflix dramedy No Good Deed. Starring Ray Romano and Lisa Kudrow, it’s about a couple who is trying to sell their house and the secrets behind why they need to. The Los Feliz house porn is great but the best part of the show, in my opinion, is Matt Rogers' sparkling performance as the couple’s impeccably dressed realtor, Greg.
Must See TT: Terrence’s “season finale vibes” culture deep dive
We’ve been fans of Terrence as the extremely online brain behind Charli XCX’s brat era social media takeover. In recent months, we’ve been partial to his Culture Deep Dives where he talks about the week’s trending topics as if he were just chatting to a friend on facetime. His deadpan delivery style and ability to distill the zeitgeist is captivating. Check out his “reporting” on the “palpable French revolution vibes.”
The Opposite of Cynical: An Inclusive Holiday Pageant 🥰
This group of students played an adorable prank on their audience with a little help from their classmate’s wheelchair
Marketing [tool] we love 💖: Sean Choi’s Cultural Moments Encyclopedia
If you’re a marketer, Jolly Chrismukkah! We’re regifting you Sean Choi’s gift to LinkedIn, his Cultural Moments calendar. This stunning document lists cultural events, holidays, observances (all those random national days) and so much more. It’s a great resource as we go into 2025!!
Shopping for a signature sign off,
Megan & Kaley
P.S. Happy Holidays! Spread the cheer by sending Cool Shiny Culture to a friend!