The outpouring of support from around the country–and for that matter the world–for victims of Hurricane Katrina has been inspiring. And as chronicled in SHOOT (9/9 and 9/16, p. 1), the commercialmaking community has also been responsive, helping through assorted volunteer and fundraising efforts, as well as through the creation of relevant public service messages across different media.
Still, in light of Katrina, it’s a PSA from four years ago that resonates for me more than any other. The spot follows a woman as she visits several fast-food restaurants to forage for packets of ketchup, which she uses later that night to make dinner–a ketchup-hot water soup–for her young family. Titled “Ketchup Soup,” the Ad Council spot was part of a campaign directed by Joe Pytka of Venice, Calif.-based PYTKA for BBH New York.
The powerful ad deserved more air play because it conveyed a sorely needed message–one that sadly has become more painfully apparent in Katrina’s aftermath. A large segment of the population remains wanting for basic necessities–food, clothing, decent shelter, healthcare. Katrina flooded some of them out of the shadows and into the public viewfinder. When they were out of sight, they were for many of us out of mind. Just days before Katrina hit, a much overlooked statistic was released amidst the avalanche of supposedly more important economic barometers. For each of the last four years, more than one million people have dropped below the poverty line in the U.S. There was no uproar over this fact–no political finger pointing as now evident in the post-Katrina blame game dynamic.
But Katrina brought some of these most vulnerable Americans into our living rooms, onto our TV sets and computer screens–the overriding question being why didn’t we care more about their plight prior to the Gulf Coast tragedy? What if this–and assorted other daily obscenities which often go sans high-profile public attention–at least merited the same media blitz coverage as the Michael Jackson trial, the new Star Wars film or the runaway bride?
I make these queries to raise the point that at least in our little pocket of the film community, we need to always strive to make a difference. It’s great that we are mobilizing efforts–volunteering to collect and deliver needed supplies, raising money, bringing the power of the ad community to bear on public opinion–as an eloquent response to Katrina. However, we need to maintain this eloquence for real issues of importance when there’s no compelling emergency to spur us on. Through that year ’round work, perhaps we can help bring about positive change, maybe even reducing, for example, the number of people in need, making them less vulnerable when natural or manmade disasters strike.
That’s because raising public awareness–as well as delivering emergency aid–has become more a function of everyday citizenry. The aforementioned “Ketchup Soup” and other spots in that ’01 package were released in the summer to coincide with the seasonal peak in child hunger, when the closure of schools means that for three months there are no school-based food programs. The campaign tagline rings especially true today while offering hope for the future. In reference to the hunger epidemic–in which one of every five children in America faces hunger on a daily basis–the tagged message is simply, “The Sooner You Believe It, The Sooner We Can End It.”
