Discovery's Blunder?

In 2008, biologist and filmmaker Rob Stewart released the movie Sharkwater, an in-depth look at the worlds top predator. His documentary sought to dispel many of the myths that have been perpetuated by our society and media about the dangers of sharks and expose the Shark-finning industry that is endangering sharks world wide. 

Upon release I remember all my friends and colleagues a-buzz with their new found compassion for these giants of the ocean. "My fiance and I are going to go diving with the sharks," proclaimed one colleague. As  more and more people began to talk about the movie I finally saw it for myself, and was astounded by how wrong we have been about sharks all along. It turns out sharks are not the scary, aggressive man eaters as we've seen in Jaws but rather are an intelligent predator that is essential to our ecosystem. In an interview with the Hour's George Stroumboulopoulos Rob Stewart made an astute point, "Elephants kill 200 people a year, sharks kill 5 people a year, we kill 100 million of them and no body notices."

So it struck me as a surprise when I heard about Discovery Channel's new campaign to promote Shark Week 2009. The campaign's creators sent packages to members of the press to promote the event. One editor described his package on his blog:

"An unmarked box arrived containing a frosted, seemingly rusted jar. Inside was a pair of swim trunks, "chewed" up and bloody-looking; a key attached to a flotation disk, as if for a boat, and a few other weathered, nautical items. But the centerpiece was the crumpled newspaper clipping of my own obituary. "James Hibberd, Senior TV Reporter and Senior Online Editor of the Hollywood Reporter died Monday, July 6, of a grisly shark attack..."There's nothing like reading a pronouncement of your own death to give you pause."

In addition to the 'press packages', Discovery launched the website frenziedwaters.com, a page that depicts four different shark attacks and subsequent deaths from a victim's perspective. 

While this promotion has bloggers and media talking, I can't help but feel that a nature channel should be more responsible with their advertising. For a channel that seeks to provide e

ducational programing, one would think that they would seek to promote Shark week in a way that reflects their values rather than perpetuating false perceptions. Even though Discovery's Shark Week site provides plenty of information about shark conservation and even articles dispelling the greatest shark myths, it is laced with phrases like "fearsome predator" and features plenty of material about shark attacks. 

The question now becomes, have we gotten to a point in advertising where truth is no longer expected? As consumers are we so desperate to be entertained that we no longer care if the advertising reflects the product?  

What is more disturbing to me is that plenty of the bloggers who have discussed the promo talk about the quality of the marketing, yet not one has mentioned the ethics of perpetuating myths that continue to harm our ecosystems. In an era where "green is the new black" and everyone is desperate to become more ecologically aware and friendly it baffles me that no one is discussing the prudence of this blatant marketing ploy that has little if nothing to do with the content of Shark week or educating the public about the realities of sharks and how our lack of knowledge may spell the extinction of a predator vital to the ocean's ecosystem.