What a great opportunity for Shawnigan Lake to win in this no-win situation!
Just imagine this headline all over the Internet: “We don’t just dare you to drink our water, we will pay you to drink it!”
This is followed by the story of what has happened to Shawnigan Lake and an image of a person drinking water at the shoreline surrounded by (what appears to be) dead fish, animals face first in the water, and dead plants (with an explanation in very small print that this is just a caricature). Visitors who drink the water would receive coupons redeemable at various local businesses.
There is no downside; either people will be attracted to the area to see the “toxic lake” as a lark, and help spread the word, or they will stay away in horrified protest, and help spread the word.
Such a “guerrilla marketing” campaign can easily pay for itself while building awareness and support in the court of public opinion.
Email addresses, fax numbers, etc. would be provided to enable people, wherever they live, to add their voices to the growing protest.
Many years ago I received a mug imprinted with the slogan: “If at first you don’t succeed — change the rules!”
The SRA has been playing by a set of rules which obviously favour the “oppressive trinity” (government, big business and the justice system); it’s time for the SRA to turn this whole disgusting mess on its head and put together their own playbook.
Ivan Quinlan
North Cowichan