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Keith's note: The Coalition for Space Exploration put an advisory out this morning about some public service announcement videos they produced for www.KeepAmericaInSpace.com. The first one is above, the second is below.
These are certainly nicely made videos. My prime criticism, however, is that after all the nostalgic imagery and emotions are brought forth, viewers are not told what specific threats are being made to American space exploration and what specific things they need to do to stop these threats from affecting America's space program. All you get are hints and vague suggestions that things might not continue - with no explanation as to why.
If these videos are meant to be a call to action, then they are missing some critical components. Why do we need to Keep America In Space? What (or who) is threatening to prevent this? Is it President Obama who is doing this? Members of Congress?
These videos impart a sense that things are going OK as they are. If so, then why make the video in the first place? What are you asking viewers to do - and to think? Who do they contact in order to stop these threats? Congress? The White House? NASA? What do they say? What needs to be fixed?
If something needs to be done then you need to give people the tools to fix things and a "to do" list to implement if you want things to be fixed. You can't just drop hints and expect things to happen.
These ads (again, nicely done from a production standpoint) seem to be aimed at people who already support space exploration. In other words, more choir practice. When will the Coalition - and all "space advocates" - finally break this habit? You really do not need to convince the faithful. They are already in the tank.
These videos are described as "public service announcements". You need to reach out into the real world i.e. the "public" and make the discussion resonate with life outside of the space community. You know, bad economy, global warming, etc. Until that happens, these ads just sound like they are saying "you should support space because we are inspired by it - and because we work here".
So what do you think?
Keith, are you sure the videos were a "call to action"? All I saw was the standard feel-good guff that is more synonymous with an insurance ad (but at least in the insurance ad they included a sales pitch). I'm not entirely sure what was going on with the first video. Were the images of 9/11, dictatorships and war supposed to motivate an outpouring of sentiment for the exploration of space?
I don't get it.
I will be honest, I know very little about the Coalition (which might be a symptom of the problem itself), but they're doing it wrong. As you said, videos like this need to reach out to the public, not make the space community feel all warm and fuzzy about the achievements of "way back when."
Wouldn't it have made more sense to give some examples of tangible benefits space flight to everyday life (and not just "our electronics are all down to science!" Who would have guessed?)? How is NASA monitoring climate change? How does manned space flight give people skills? What life-saving medicines have microgravity experiments helped develop? What materials do we use every day that is directly attributable to the space program (I still remember when my science teacher showed us a strip of Velcro and told us it was developed for space suits - I was 12, and I was captivated)?
There is also no hint that the Coalition is looking into the future. What's the point in going back to the Moon? Visiting asteroids? Sending probes to the Kuiper Belt? Why would we want to send man to Mars? For a holiday? Mining? Science? All of the above?
I could go on forever.
Obviously a very high quality production, but I'd go as far as saying it does NOTHING for keeping the US in space. There's no outreach, there's oodles of naval gazing and if this is the best the Coalition can do, I can guarantee they won't be seeing an increase in membership any time soon.
Ah well.
Cheers, Ian