I talk a lot about how powerful pop culture can be as an educator about health and social issues, and as a shaper of social norms. From USA for Africa's We Are the World song for African famine relief to the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Hope for Haiti Now telethon, there have been many of these efforts over the years. Perhaps the most poignant example is when pop culture, particularly the entertainment industry, comes together in response to sudden tragedy. 

What reminded me was tonight's airing of the documentary (dramatically titled), When Pop Culture Saved America: A 9/11 Story on the Biography channel. Below is their description, and here's the full show on Hulu.

In the aftermath of 9/11, getting back to normal would not be a simple task. For those in the world of pop culture and entertainment, the challenge was how to help America achieve that goal--to cheer the country up during its darkest days. This documentary takes a comprehensive look at the days and months following the attack--to show how the non-news media pitched in to bring the nation together. Comedians, singers, actors, entertainers all did their part with concerts, telethons and specials. Television, movies, Broadway, music and even sports helped bring us back to the new normal. We'll also review the impact of the events of 9/11 on pop culture and how TV and films were changed forever.

Fundamentally, these highly visible pop culture shows and songs do several important things: They unify us, they acknowledge what we're all trying to make sense of, they give us permission to feel the emotions that the celebrities express, they invite us to eventually laugh in spite of the tragic losses, and at the right time they tell us that it's okay to move on with our lives.

And these are all things that every individual and organization can also do- each in their own way.

What do your customers prefer to interact with - people or technology? High tech or high touch? The answer is usually... it depends.

I like how Esurance is tackling this head on, with their trademarked tag line: Technology when you want it. People when you don't. Their value proposition is twofold: 1) tons of discounts, and 2) two ways to get 'em. Since insurance discounts alone is not a market differentiator, they position themselves via the "technology or people" ways to work with them. Here's a link to their ads and campaign, created by Duncan/Channon. 

When should you provide technology as your customer service solution and when should you provide real people? From the customer perspective, it depends how potentially complex or emotional the issue is. For example, if you need to change travel reservations due to a death in family, or deal with medical devices for a sick patient or family member, you want a live customer service rep to help you. Assuming of course your level of  bureaucracy allows your reps to be effective. In contrast, getting a simple update on a due date or balance inquiry, technology will do. 

But most important is how tuned you are into what customers want and need in customer service. Because with both a technology-based customer interface as well as a live human interface, the goal is to understand and solve the customer's problem.

The more customer intimacy, the better the customer service, the happier the customer.

Teen sex, celibacy, birth control, condoms, gay and lesbian relationships, video sex tapes, virginity, pregnancy, dirty dancing, communicating about feelings, the dad-son (gay) sex talk, and... even romance. This was Glee tonight, prefaced with a "parental discretion advised" warning.

Did the seductive Do you want to touch me song and dance go too far? Note how Glee Club teacher Will holds up a sign "Too much?"

With singing, dancing, guest star Gwyneth Paltrow, and a dubious but entertaining sex-ed storyline, tonight's Glee episode (entitled 'Sexy') covered it all. This was a great "Entertainment-Education" example using popular culture - a hit TV show - to promote health. Here's a blow-by-blow recap from your fave reviewers, E-Online. 

What made it so good? It illustrated so many principles about what makes entertainment work - or not - as a carrier of health messages. Especially the core idea; the "entertainment contract."

The entertainment contract refers to an implicit agreement between we the viewers who agree to suspend disbelief and connect with the characters, in exchange for the producers providing us with a good time. Did the show violate the contract by having a storyline that was too unbelievable... like Kurt the gay guy not knowing anything about sex? Or cheerleader Britanny who has a boyfriend (and a girlfriend) thinking babies come from storks (really, at 16 years old) and therefore thinks she's pregnant because a stork nested by her bedroom window? Or were we the viewers able to keep relating to the characters and the story. As the theory goes, once the entertainment contract is violated, viewers switch from an empathic mindset to an evaluative and often dismissive frame of mind, which renders the education ineffective. 

Just the first 15 minutes of the show will be a great teaching tool - very exciting! Well, to me anyway. Harnessing TV shows for health persuasion was what my PhD dissertation was about, the subject of graduate courses I've taught. and the focus of products we developed. Yeah, I'm psyched.

Here's a couple reviews: Wall Street Journal and a Glee Wiki (with links to all the songs in the episode). Your thoughts on this episode of Glee?

A very sweet ad for P&G's Dawn dishwashing detergent won the top spot in the Ace Metrix list of best TV spots for the second quarter of 2010. The ad shows how Dawn Ultra can clean and save birds and other wildlife soaked with goopy oil.

Note that the ad debuted two weeks before the BP oil rig explosion, and was rated first prior to the spill as well... wow.

I'm glad to see a "cause-related" ad win (here's the story in AdWeek). This one is interesting because it is not a traditional cause marketing approach that would link P&G or Dawn with selected non-profit organizations. It is an ad centered on the product. I see the primary message as this: Because our product can save poor animals, you should buy it. Secondary message #1: By the way, if we're good enough to clean oil-soaked birds, imagine what we can do for your greasy dishes. Secondary message #2: And feel good, because we will donate a dollar of your purchase to help these animals. Nice job P&G and the Kaplan Thaler agency!

TV ads for Orville Redenbacher's are popping up (pun intended!) on the Olympics. Many of the ads promise not good popcorn as the benefit of the gourmet popcorn, but bringing people together. Check out this "tea party" ad:

The ad closes saying: "Spending time together. That's the power of Orville Redenbacher's." When product ads connect through deeper shared experiences, they hit home. We don't just think about it, we feel it. And we all know that feelings and emotion is what drives most purchases, right?

Google had one one of the best ads this Super Bowl- and it cost next to nothing to produce. The beauty of the ad was telling a love story in words- and in a way that shows the power of Google's search (and works for football fans!)

More and more, I believe "story" is one of the most effective marketing tools we have. While it's not always easy to tell a compelling story, when it works, people are engaged, immersing themselves in the story, and most importantly - connecting - on a personal and emotional level. And that kind of connection is priceless.

Many years ago, a study by OgilvyOne found that as much as 66% of brand preference is driven by emotional elements. So why is it that so many other Superbowl ads just tried to be clever or catch our attention. No one is complaining about the Danika Patrick commercial, wait... I mean the Go Daddy commercial... or what was it she was selling again?

The point is stories emotionally connect and resonate with consumers in a meangful and memorable way. It's just like the late great Don Hewitt (producer of CBS 60 Minutes) always said: "Tell me a story." 

To "prepare" us for the next Muppets feature film in 2011, Disney (who bought the Muppet franchise several years ago) has unleashed a brilliant and carefully orchestrated combination new and traditional media strategy that draws on Disney's many assets. A major communication channel is YouTube, and Muppet characters have been appeared in several ABC and ESPN programs. Check out the very cool Muppets version of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, which to date, has been viewed by over 11.6 million viewers.

Soon we'll be seeing Muppets everywhere. The power of pop culture to influence our collective psyche!

After 72 Years on the Air, 'Guiding Light' Fades to Black.

This was a recent Washington Post headline announcing the demise of the longest running soap opera in history.

We worked with the soap opera community several years ago, as part of the multifacted Soap Summits to encourage better portrayals of safe-sex, drug problems, and violence prevention in soaps, which at that time reached over 30 million very loyal viewers a day.

I learned five key lessons:

1. My initial and rather smug dismissal of soaps as a waste of time was deeply misguided, as I quickly realized that for many viewers watching their soap was a valued ritual that they called "my time." It was an effective and reliable escape from the hardships of everyday life.
2. The currency for entertainment on television is ratings, which translates into profit, which is their bottom line. Incorporating positive health portrayals is only relevant to the soap opera community when it helps ratings. The job of the health community is to package their issues in ways that improve soap opera stories. It's their turf.
3. Health and social issues can be highly engaging and poignant, and add to to a storyline,without turning into a dull or preachy lecture. I remember one conversation among All My Children writers deciding, as a result of the Soap Summit, to have a new young female character always carry condoms in her purse as part of her persona.
4. Women and men want different endings. Women want stories to show the resolute woman taming the wild man or bad boy so he becomes good. Everybody wins. Men want the bad guy to lose and be beaten by a better man. Winner and loser.
5. Lastly, I learned that soap operas were invented by Procter & Gamble to sell soap, hence the name. The "opera" was simply an addictive container for P&G ads that sold their products to homemakers. Pretty clever.

May we all shine our guiding lights.