In the Maldives, ministers in scuba gear met on the sea bed to draw attention to the dangers of global warming for the island nation.
Just look at the picture above. How cute is that?
Look, you're Maldives. You're a beautiful but small and inconsequential country of 300,000. But as an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, you're feeling the heat of global warming. Superpowers like China and the U.S. bicker over whether they'll participate in global efforts to curb pollution as you watch the sea rise over your lowlands.
I can imagine their public relations firm's pitch. "You guys need to get people's attention! You want the rest of the world to notice more than your beautiful beaches, you've got to do something crazy, but relevant -- something to catch the world's eye and make your point at the same time! We need to get the New York Times out here! We need a WEIRD PR CAMPAIGN!"
So:
President Mohammed Nasheed and 13 other government officials submerged and took their seats at a table on the sea floor -- 20 feet (6 meters) below the surface of a lagoon off Girifushi, an island usually used for military training. With a backdrop of coral, the meeting was a bid to draw attention to fears that rising sea levels caused by the melting of polar ice caps could swamp this Indian Ocean archipelago within a century. Its islands average 7 feet (2.1 meters) above sea level.
It's cute, but it got the message across. Publicity stunts work. (And they're fun -- CC's is currently scheming a mini-Santacon invasion at an upcoming event. Hey, we're a full service PR firm.) Read the full story at: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/17/world/AP-AS-Maldives-Underwater-Cabinet.html?hp
-Adrianne (@msfener)
