LOVE blogger Victor wrote:

“while reading a pamphlet we’ve been developing about circuses, an activist stopped at the line, ‘Some animals, like elephants, may be forced to work for over 45 years for our entertainment,’ and suggested replacing the word ‘our’ with ‘your.’ This comment intrigued me because the word ‘our’ was deliberately chosen to suggest a particular approach to advocacy and so I started thinking more about what that word represents.”

“‘Our’ reminds me not to think of myself as separate from those I am reaching out to and to instead understand that we are doing the best we know how. With this understanding, veganism is a process rather than an endpoint. Veganism as process means I am continually learning about veganism and that my path towards the vegan ideal is meandering and ongoing. So ‘our’ helps head off the judgment that I am ‘good’ and they are ‘bad’ by reminding me that we are all learning how to live our lives at the same time.”

Victor is onto something. He’s trying to connect with people who have different viewpoints about animals. He’s trying to empathize and guide rather than judge and instruct. Carol L. Glasser at the Humane Research Council is also interested in this idea of language. She wrote:

“Replacing descriptive words with euphemisms or using subtle language to describe extreme concepts masks the exploitation, misuse and abuse of other animals. For example, to make meat-eating more tolerable, words such as poultry, hamburger, and bacon are used to replace more accurate words like dead chicken flesh, shredded cow body, and sliced pig belly.” [...]

“If simply describing our movement with different words can have a significant effect on how willing others are to listen to our message, it is clear that the language used to talk about the animals for whom we advocate will likely have an impact.”

And then Glasser drops the bomb:

“Unfortunately, research has not explored how shifting language can shift outcomes for animals.”

Yes, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions about which words will have the most impact. And we should be careful about advocating a stance that isn’t justifed by science. Perhaps a subtle shift like “your” to “our” will change more hearts and minds and generate more compassion for animals. Or it might not have any effect at all.

Words are useful tools for expressing ideas and producing change. But they are not ends in themselves. If your reader doesn’t share your perspective, your understanding, your assumptions, etc., then all your ideas about the importance of a particular word choice falls to the wayside. The message is lost and your meaning is missed.

So, instead of debating and writing essays on the philosophy behind using the word “our” versus using the word “your,” more time should be spent measuring the efficacy of various words and techniques. That is, instead of focusing so much on YOUR meaning, try focusing on the audience and THEIR understanding. What do they need to hear in order to get them to change their behaviors?

Luckily, this is exactly what HRC is doing. In 2004 they did research and found that the average person is more receptive to the term “animal advocate” than the term “animal activist.”

When you write anything, think about who is reading and what they need to hear in order to compel them to act. What do people who are going to circus need to read in order to decide to turn around and boycott the circus? What emotions must they feel? Who should they identify with? What needs of theirs must be met? Are they even going to read? How much do they understand/ what is their reading level?

In my mind, there’s an even more important question: Does it even make sense to waste space with words? Would images convey more?

I was just recently at a circus protest and one of the other protesters commented that he thought most passersby didn’t even read the signs and most just thought to themselves, “Here are a bunch of people who don’t like the circus. They must have a good reason. I’m not going to the circus.” I think he might be onto something. When I see protesters I’m intrigued and I try to read their signs, but even if I can’t figure out what they’re protesting, I get an automatic negative feeling about the business they’re protesting.

The circus is cruel.
Boycott cruelty.
Boycott the circus.

Does much more need to be said? What and how should it be said in order to be convincing and effective?

—

Editor’s Note: this article was originally published in June 2009. After minor edits it has been republished in 2012.

The message should not be lost in big words, confusing symbols, or disorganized ideas. Animal advocates have a responsibility to make their messages clear.

With that in mind, I copied and pasted text from a handful of vegan fliers into a readability tool. The tool determines the amount of education required to understand the literature. The readability tool calculates the “Flesch Reading Ease.”

A score of 90–100 means the literature can be easily understood by an average 11-year old student, a score between 60–70 can be comprehended by 13- to 15-year old students, and a score of 30 or under means the literature best understood only by college graduates.

Since most of the literature is to be handed out to high school and college students, not college graduates, it makes sense to craft a pamphlet that is easily understood by 13-15 year olds, that is, a pamphlet that has a Flesch Reading Ease score of 60 or higher.

The results of my little experiment? Poor. I won’t name names, but here’s an idea:

• An “abolitionist” flier scored a Flesch Reading Ease of 27.46.
• Another “abolitionist” pamphlet scored 36.36.
• A “what’s wrong with dairy” flier received a score of 39.48.
• An animal emancipation style flier scored a respectable 45.79.
• In contrast, a vegan education booklet scored 61.12.
• And a “vegetarian starter kit” returned a result of 64.23.

In comparison, Reader’s Digest magazine is about 65, Time magazine scores about 52, and the Harvard Law Review has a general readability score in the low 30s. This one page “abolitionist” flier was more difficult to read and understand than the Harvard Law Review. (source)

Readability is not the “sole criterion” for determining the worth of a leaflet, but it’s a necessary fundamental factor. If a leaflet scores low in readability nothing else about it matters because the leaflet is more likely to be misunderstood and disregarded than a leaflet that is easier to understand.

Why do poorly written leaflets exist? I think this happens because many of the people who write these hand-outs are smart, educated people who are very capable of understanding complex language. Many have studied philosophy or law and are very comfortable writing in an academic style. Although there may be another explanation, I believe they are more concerned with expressing their own ideas and theories than they are concerned with actual, tangible results for animals.

Regardless of anyone’s intentions, we can all learn from this. We should make sure our fliers can be easily understood by most people. By making our message difficult to understand we’re not only failing the animals we’re also excluding a number of people who might very well have become vegan or vegetarian had they received a more readable pamphlet or had they stumbled across a more readable website.

Practically speaking if my message were crafted with college graduate readability, I could only hope to reach less than 20% of my city’s population. Statistics from the 2000 Census show that only 18.2% of Las Vegans have a Bachelor’s degree. So, in order to read my community, I must use a leaflet with a higher readability score.

To improve your writing’s readability here are some tips:

• Use short sentences and small common words.
• Repeat important ideas using different words and phrases.
• Make lists and prioritize key concepts.
• Add appropriate images when possible.
• Ask other people to read your work and help you edit it.

We owe it to the animals to ensure that everyone understands us. If we are not understood, we may as well be mooing, clucking, or oinking.

—

Post Script:

• This article has been crossposted at Selling Compassion.
• This post was originally published May 5, 2009. Minor edits have taken place since then.
• Update January 2012: HRC took this idea and ran with it. They did a comprehensive study of outreach literature. The report is online here: http://www.humanespot.org/system/files/Veg_Literature_Readability.pdf (you will need to log in to the website in order to veiw).

It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. Ever heard that? It’s true.

Generally speaking.

But not always.

The Sidney Morning Herald discussed vegetarianism with Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals.

Here’s a section from the article:

It’s amazing how many conversations about meat end up as fights.

”Occasionally at [my] readings somebody will stand up and say, ‘Who do you  think you are?’ etc, and get quite worked up. And I’ll say, ‘Obviously we agree  this is an important subject.’ If I had said, ‘We should all think about changing the paper towels we use,’ people might disagree with me, they might think I am an idiot for raising the subject but nobody is going to get worked  up.

”With [the question of eating meat], even if you give it as generous and humble approach as you can, it’s almost impossible not to avoid heated feelings.  It speaks to a shared awareness that something really big is going on.

I bolded an important point above. Although it’s often true that a very effective approach to use for vegan education is to temper the tone by striving to be accepting and nonaccusatory – as difficult a task as that may sometimes be, even Foer admits that finding the right tone was the most difficult part of writing his book - it’s also true that any serious animal advocate will encounter some significant resistance. The old addage, adapted from an Abraham Lincoln quote, is true:

“You can please some of the people all the time,
and all of the people some of the time,
but you cannot please all of the people all of the time.”

There are activists out there who claim this or that method is best and works “all the time.” Or they claim that whatever method they dislike is ”counterproductive.” Be skeptical! And be persistent. Because it’s better to speak up and say it the wrong way than to stay silent. Silence is acceptance. And there’s nothing acceptable about animal exploitation.

Whatever the animal movement is doing is working. Change is on the horizon.

For example, in September 2010 (a year ago) I did a survey of Vegan Soapbox readers to determine how effective this website was, if it was effective at all.

I was surprised to find that:

• Some survey respondents claimed they “eat less meat” or that they “eat fewer animal products.”
• A larger group said they “donate more money to animal organizations.”
• Many claimed that they “bought more vegan cookbooks.”
• The answer that received the most votes was: “I do more animal advocacy.”

At last month’s Vida Vegan Con there was a panel about vegan activism as it relates to blogging. Of course I was excited about this panel! And as usual, I took notes, which are below saved especially just for you…

Vida Vegan Con 2011 – Activism Panel
Moderator: Jasmin Singer – Our Hen House
Speakers:

• Leigh-Chantelle Koch – Viva La Vegan
  blog, cookbook, podcasts, videos, mentor
  also runs a nonprofit group that puts on a enviro fest
  “everyone has the skills and talents to promote veganism”
• Chelsea  Lincoln - The Mill Room
  began as “serious activist” by organizing protests/demos
  was part of a successful campaign that included both “angry” activism and civil dialog
  currently blogging and volunteering with animal rescue, likes hands-on
  “activism is not just one thing” find your own niche
• Isa Chandra Moskowitz – The Post Punk Kitchen
  fundraising – bake sales that also encourage veganism
  “4 courses 4 causes”
  chose to live currently in Omaha because they need more vegans and more vegan food
  interested in local activism
• Ryan Patey
  editor and founder of TOFU magazine
  started by doing a couple vegan cookbooks
  aim is to provide any vegan with a soapbox
• Sunny Subramanian
  peta2 - youth, music, provides lots of liturature etc
  veganizing cafeterias
  fun to write wiith a young voice for a young audience
  “it’s amazing to work for such a powerful organization”

Merging environmental issues and animal issues?
Leigh-Chantelle: didn’t use “v” word, didn’t market  as enviro festival, invited veg food carts

How to “fix” vegan movement?
Ryan: try not to step on each other’s toes, try to find ways to work with other people from other issues

How to incorporate more activism into foodie blogs?
Chelsea: be true to who you are, daily life is blogable

Does fostering activism in kids/young people stick? and what can people do?
Sunny: tshirts and totes that encourage veganism, online petitions, replacing home products with vegan options, encouraging parents to eat veg, kids will stick with it if they have a community

How to make local events bigger?
Isa: media attention, taking part in campaigns that are already national/international, staying part of activism community

Does your previous experience come in handy in activism?
Leigh-Chantelle: music background has helped feel comfortable to speaking and interact with media
Ryan: music scene made it easier to travel for activism
Sunny: journalism background has helped

For anyone who has never considered themselves an activist, how to get involved?
Chelsea: ignore the word activist and just follow your heart to do the things you feel need to get done in order to make change

How do you avoid burnout?
Sunny: step back and take a little vacation when things feel overwhelming
Ryan: go outside and experience nature
Jasmin: find community and safe spaces
Isa: stuff like this conference
Leigh-Chantelle: community and football

Questions from audience:

• Inspired by Chelsea’s post about being ourselves and finding our ownbeauty – how does it relate to activism?
  response: it helps you spread your message because people can feel your comfort with yourself, everyone can help themselves become better activists by accepting themselves
• How do you find that fine line between wanting to be approachable vs diluting the message; how to be honest without alientating people or seeming strident?
  response: ask someone to read post before publishing, leave room to change and modify. you’re not speaking for everyone, you’re speaking for yourself. You can unpublish if you need to. Let the food do the talking
• How do we change vegan food into activism?
  response: write letters to the editor about food, bake once a week for office and give recipes, organizing holiday event and invite nonvegans
  restaurant outreach
• How to not be divisive?
  response: it’s your blog and say what you want to say, just accept that vegans fight. Ask questions, engage the conversation. “the world of infightinng is the world of wasting time”
• How do you market events to attract the “inactivists”?
  response: bake sales, meetups with activism component, build community and trust
• How to get media attention?
  response: professional press release, find the vegans in the media, use CNN ireport, link your event to something else newsworthy
  maintain media connections, celebrity, use your own story
  ourhenhouse guide for getting media attention
• How to fuse our identities? (vegan feminist, for example)
  response: consider people as people, complex beings

To read notes from other panels at Vida Vegan Con, the conference for vegan bloggers, please go here: http://www.vegansoapbox.com/topics/vvc2011/

UPDATE: The video from the Vida Vegan Con panel on activism. Here it is:

Vegan Soapbox: First, how do you pronounce your last name?

Brian: Grew-pay

VS: How/ why did you go vegan?

Brian: “In February of 2007 I found an Even if you like meat… brochure (produced by Vegan Outreach) at Sacramento State in the lounge of the music department. I still distinctly remember the moment when I saw it out of the corner of my eye. I sat down and read it and decided to give up meat on the spot. I did not know a single vegetarian or vegan at the time. A few months later, on my sister’s birthday (Aug 6th), I went fully vegan.”

“It was Jack Norris, president and co-founder of Vegan Outreach who was out leafleting that day so credit should be given to him for changing my life.”

“As for the why: I had never thought about what I ate or that animals were even involved. To me food was simply food. In a container, on a plate, from the store, in a restaurant. For whatever reason I was just ready for the message at that moment in time. I liked cats but was by no means gaga over animals.  However, I saw what modern animal ag does to animals and realized I could do something about it by changing my diet.  I felt empowered, just, and right.  2007 will forever remain one of the most important years of my life.”

 VS: What’s your favorite vegan food for lunch or dinner? What’s your favorite restaurant?

Brian: “I love breakfast for dinner.  Pancakes, tofu scramble with veggies and Daiya vegan cheese.  I love burritos.  I seem to grow more fond of chocolate every year.”
 
“Gracias Madre is my go to place in San Francisco for amazing vegan Mexican.  Wayward Café in Seattle is amazing comfort food (kind of like Denny’s).  Fellini in Berkeley has vegan eggs benedict to die for.  And Cinnaholic in Berkeley has amazing rolls.  Can’t forget Souley Vegan in Oakland for some serious comfort food.”

VS: How did you get involved with Vegan Outreach?

Brian: “In the summer of 2007 I decided to email Vegan Outreach to tell them how they had so greatly impacted my life.  Jack Norris, who was living in Sacramento at the time as well, invited me to leaflet the Warped Tour in Marysville.  It was an awesome experience and I started volunteering locally during the Fall semester.  In October, Vegan Outreach hired me to leaflet locally until I could move to Boston in April of 2008 to be the New England Outreach Coordinator.  I held this position for 7 months and until I was offered the position of Northern California Outreach Coordinator which I have had since late 2008.” 

VS: What do you like best about working with/for VO?

Brian: “I love connecting with young people.  I feel as though I’ve put in the time and effort and know how to respond to any question/situation at any given time.  I also love working with our dedicated volunteers and showing new people the ropes of leafleting.  I have ‘trained’ many a successful leafleter and it’s always a lot of fun to watch others succeed.” 

VS: What do you do to relax and prevent burn out?

Brian: “I play bass and synthesizer in a local rock band called Tremor Low (www.tremorlow.com).  I like to ride my bike and cook for friends as well.  I love feeding activists so much that a friend of mine nicknamed me ‘Papa Brian’.” 
 
“I make sure to give myself the time that I need to relax; every second of every day cannot be devoted to helping animals.  As activists, we need to accept this and be present in every moment, whether we’re working for animals or doing something fun for ourselves.  It is truly the way to living a fulfilled life.”

VS: Any final words of wisdom?

Brian: “Actions speak louder than words!  Get out there and make a difference for farmed animals as best you can. Please please please read the essays here: http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/index.html  

“Matt Ball and Jack Norris have been at this for well over 20 years and have immense insight and wisdom.”

Thanks go out to Brian for his excellent interview!

Vegan Soapbox: How long have you been involved in the animal rights movement? How/why did you go vegan?

Michael A. Weber: I have been vegan and somewhat involved with animal rights since high school. I was primarily working on human and environmental rights until 2009, when I shifted my main focus to animals raised for food, who die and suffer in larger numbers than any other beings (human or nonhuman) on the planet.

At age 14, in my French class, we learned how to say the names of farmed animals, the sounds and call they make, and their cuts of meat in French. For instance, the French say that pigs go “groin groin”, not “oink”. It just hit me then that the meat I was eating came from animals. Of course, I already knew that, but making it so blatant was a life-changing moment for me. I became a vegetarian more or less overnight and never looked back. Going vegan was the logical next step a few years later at age 17. 

Vegan Soapbox: What’s your favorite vegan meal(s)? Favorite hair gel/ soap/deodorant/ clothing brand/ or other vegan nonfood item? Favorite AR book/film/album?

Michael: I have WAY too many favorite meals, haha. I make a lot of seitan and a lot of things with kale and broccoli. So a favorite would probably be some pan-fried seitan cutlets topped with some variation of a creamy cashew/tofu sauce, a side of steamed broccoli, a side of sautéed kale, and if I’m feeling like being healthy, a dessert of a banana/soymilk shake. If I’m not feeling as health-conscious…maybe a slice of carrot cake.

I really like the shoes by Vegetarian Shoes, which are vegan, sweatshop-free, and stylish. I don’t use a wide range of other products – mostly Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap, and Dessert Essence deodorant, which is the only vegan deodorant I have found to really do the trick. My favorite AR book is Melanie Joy’s Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows. 

Vegan Soapbox: How long have you been with FARM? What did you like most (and what did you like least) about organizing the Animal Rights Conference?

Michael: I have been with FARM since February 2009, and I am now the Program Director, which involves overseeing our grassroots campaigns, educational programs, and helping craft our strategy and vision. My favorite part about organizing the conference is that I get paid to talk and email with the best leaders of our movement. If I had to say something I dislike about it, it’s probably that I’m so busy onsite that I don’t get to meet nearly as many of the great attendees and I speakers as I would like to. 

Vegan Soapbox: What’s the most effective thing someone can do for animals… in 15 minutes?… in an hour or two?… in a day or week?… in a couple weeks, months, or years?

Michael: I believe that conversations (two-way, not one-way) are the most effective tool we have to reach people one-by-one. Because of this, I’d say the most effective thing someone could do with 15 minutes is refine their response to the most common question they receive. For example, if I notice that I always get asked about where all the animals would go if the world went vegan, and if I notice that my standard response turns people off by seeming high-and-mighty, then it’s probably time to refine my response. In 15 minutes, I can come up with a firm but compassionate response that doesn’t deny my hopes for a vegan world, but doesn’t also doesn’t waste time focusing on a scenario decades or centuries away when there are animals dying now that our choices can help.  

In a couple hours or a full day, I recommend an event that has the potential to reach lots of people and to intimately engage those willing to stick around. The most effective event in my opinion that achieves this is Pay Per View, which involves offering passersby $1 to watch four minutes of animal farming and slaughter footage. We give a leaflet to people who turn us down, and at each event up to several hundred people watch the video and have conversations with us. More at www.farmusa.org/PPV 

With months or more, an activist should map out their strengths (and weaknesses) and decide how they can best utilize those strengths to help the largest number of animals. This might be on their own, with a local group, or on the national/international scale. 

Vegan Soapbox: What do you see in the future regarding our movement? Are large successes likely, do you think? What do you think are the biggest obstacles we will have to overcome?

Michael: The biggest obstacle we face is that most people won’t go vegan until institutions stop making animal products so widespread, convenient, and desirable, but most institutions won’t do this until most people want it. Our movement is finding successes, and I only see more in the future, at working simultaneously to reach individuals with our message, and making their transition easier with the availability of vegan products, information, support, etc. 

Vegan Soapbox: What’s been your biggest personal challenge to being an effective animal activist/advocate?

Michael: Besides wanting to do way more than I have time for all the time? I struggle with giving people the message they need even when it’s not the message I want to offer. For example, I want everyone to know about the hoax of humane meat, and some people are ready for that message. But others should probably receive information more based on factory farming, health, etc. It’s difficult to strike a balance between being honest/uncompromising but also effective and relatable. 

Vegan Soapbox: Any other advice/ words of wisdom that you’d like to share?

Michael: My answers have been too long already. I think I’m done

Thanks go out to Michael who was kind enough to offer his time and insight for this interview. And thanks go out to you too for reading this interview and being a part of Vegan Soapbox. Thanks.

I just returned from the Vida Vegan Blog Conference where I learned tons, met lots of new friends, and fell in love with Portland. I will share my conference notes and thoughts soon, just like I did with the AR Conference.

But today I’m heading out to do my favorite kind of activism: leafleting.

Today is the first day of school at my local university, UNLV. The first week is always the busiest time full of new and returning students. The freshmen are easy to spot with their wide-eyed optimism and curiosity. And that is why leafleting at college campuses is not only more effective but also more gratifying than leafleting elsewhere – ostensibly, college students want to learn.

At Vida Vegan Con Colleen Patrick-Goudreau gave a talk that touched on this concept of wanting to learn:

“I always say that I’m not asking people to live according to MY values; I’m urging them to live according to their own.”

“And I actually believe that people WANT this information; in fact, I think they’re quite desperate to make a change to feel better physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I know this because I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of witnessing thousands of people transition to being vegan; that is, feeling empowered enough to make choices that reflect their own values of compassion and wellness.”

And while I agree with Colleen that most people want this information it’s also true that college students are one of the groups most receptive to receiving this information. So, to reduce waste I focus most of my leafleting towards college students.

I strive to make my animal advocacy as effective as possible by saving as many animals as possible. That’s why I’ve read Change of Heart and that’s why I keep a blog called Selling Compassion that’s all about using psychology, sociology, and marketing data to improve animal activism. Change of Heart author Nick Cooney recently said:

From my experience, I think the two most effective things that we as individuals can do are:

1) Putting printed literature and resources for veg eating in front of people, through passing out Vegan Outreach leaflets and/or leaving stacks of leaflets or Vegetarian Starter Kits all around our towns

2) Getting people to view factory farming/animal cruelty videos and veg resource info either online or in person. We do this mainly through paid facebook ads, which are really really inexpensive and produce an incredible amount of change in people’s eating habits.

If anyone here wants to help us get veg starter kits in the hands of people who want them – and this only takes a few minutes a day – check out http://www.take5save5.com We use MFA’s starter kits.

So today I’ll head out with a stack of pamphlets from Vegan Outreach and I’ll hand them out to college students, teachers, and others who are on the college campus. I’ll say things like “Free information about saving animals?” or “No judgments just info,” or “Easy ways to prevent violence.” I’ll probably hand out about 500 or more in a couple hours. And hopefully I’ll inspire a few people to make a change and think about the “face on their plate.”

And then after I’ve spent a few hours doing some face-to-face vegan activism (and getting a little vitamin D while I’m at it) I’ll do a bit more blogging and put together a post about Vida Vegan Con. Stay tuned…

UPDATE: To read notes from the talks given at Vida Vegan Con, please go here: http://www.vegansoapbox.com/topics/vvc2011/

VegFund has a new project called VegVids. The project allows people to share vegan videos with each other – “between activists, AR groups, and the public,” They call it a video library. Right now they have over 1500 videos catalogued.

Here’s what they say you can do with VegVids.com:

• Learn and explore on your own
• Link to organizations and resources for more information
• Submit a video to share
• Help a video go viral with Facebook, Twitter or email
• Build a playlist with all your favorites and share with your friends
• Download the FREE Miro Player and subscribe to the VegVids channel for constant updates
• Visit our Mobile Site for the latest Featured Videos.
• Use custom RSS feeds by category or keyword to stay current with the newest posts
• Add a custom widget to your website, blog or social networking page
• Use widgets and feeds to create your own app or mashup
• Host a Screening or Pay-Per-View event with one of the clips
• Embed a clip on your site, blog or social networking page

As a sample, here is one of the videos featured on the website:

A Life Connected: VEGAN from NonviolenceUnited.org on Vimeo.

Just as I did in 2009, I’ll be sharing my notes from the conference right here. It’s sort of like “live-blogging” except there’s a bit of a delay.

First up: Making of an Activist by Bruce Friedrich.

This session is about “making the personal transformation from caring to effective activists.”

Being vegan (or vegetarian) is great. Each vegan saves about 100 or so animals every year. But there’s another way to save animals: each time you convince someone to go vegan, you double your own efficacy as a vegan. Thus, the power of being effective as an animal activist is exponential.

Each of these activities help animals:
- your personal vegan lifestyle
- wearing a t-shirt that says something like “ask my why I’m vegan”
- putting a bumper sticker on your car that says “choose compassion”
- putting a sticker on your laptop that says “tryveg.com”
- leafleting with pamphlets that encourage veganism

There are two books that ought to be in every animal advocate’s library:
Change of Heart by Nick Cooney
The Animal Activist’s Handbook by Matt Ball and Bruce Friedrich and

Friedrich’s Top 6 Tips of Effective Animal Activism:
- Always be courteous
when someone is offended it’s an “exponential negative” because they’re likely to tell others about their negative experience
- Have the courage of your convictions
Stand up for what you believe. don’t turn down an opportunity to get active for the animals.
- Make the message the message
Don’t let people write you off based on insignificant things like your hair or clothes. If that means dressing mainstream, so be it.
- Create opportunities to be an advocate
Wear veg t-shirts, leaflet, teach a vegetarian cooking class
- Channel socrates
Use the Socratic Method to encourage people to think deeply about the ethics of exploiting animals. Say things like “that’s a really good question” “I get that question a lot” “I used to feel that way too”
Remind people that all they have to do is align their beliefs with their actions.
Example:
wear a t-shirt that says “ask me why I’m vegetarian” When someone asks, reply “are you a vegetarian?” Most likely, they will say “no” so then you ask “why not?” Most likely, they will give an excuse that doesn’t hold up to serious ethical scrutiny. So then ask something like, “would you slit a chicken’s throat?” to which most people reply “no”. Then you ask, “why do you pay people to slit chickens” throats?” and you can develop the discussion from there. You will have made them think more about the issue in a way that doesn’t sidetrack the issue into something about you or your other beliefs.

Don’t get discouraged. Our movement is making progress. Consider the progress other movements have made. “But we’ll make progress more quickly if we take our moral responsibility more seriously and become as effective animal advocates as possible.”

“University of Utah marketing professors Himanshu Mishra and Arul Mishra studied consumer behavior and attitudes, and found [...] if you are advertising new products or products geared toward improving lifestyle, those should be advertised in the time period shortly after payday. If you are advertising products intended more to maintain or prevent worsening of their lifestyle, target the period just before payday. They provide a simple example: whitening toothpaste would be an improvement-oriented product, while a cavity-prevention message would be geared to prevention.”

For vegan advocates, this could be useful information. Although we’re not technically selling a product, we’re promoting a lifestyle. And much of what marketing is for products is the same as it is for lifestyles: ideas.

I think it’s very possible that people are more likely to be persuaded to go veg by using different kinds of explanations at different times of the month. For example, they’re probably more interested in hearing about celebrity vegans and indulgent vegan foods at the begining of the payday cycle whereas they’re more likely to be interested in a budget and/or health-presevation rationale for veganism towards the end of the payday cycle.

The article reminds us that “Not everyone is on the same pay cycle, and it seems that more affluent consumers who don’t live from paycheck to paycheck would be less influenced by payday issues.” But when dealing with college students, who are typically living “paycheck-to-paycheck,” I bet activists could organize a vegan education campaign on a college campus based on the payday cycle of the university and on the timing of financial aid dispersements. That campaign, if well organized, could result in tremendous long-term benefits for animals, the planet, and human health.