Do you see the purple booth in the far background? That marks the beginning of this line, for a free (seemingly empty) purple stocking by a chocolate company. I was also impressed at a similar booth where you could get “free” chocolate for liking a brand on Facebook or following them on Instagram. I heard the workers talking and they said they’d hit half a million likes with their promotion.
I’ve been thinking a bit about social marketing lately because I’ve being managing communications and media for research organisations and not for profits for many years now. In general, the social sciences don’t do marketing well and this is especially the case in my field of sociology. Continue reading Marketing Sociology
The New South Wales Community Relations Commission has released this video, “My Muslim Mates Are,“ to promote community harmony between Australian-Muslims and non-Muslim Aussies. It was produced in response to the Sydney riots two weeks a go.
SBS News reported that 300 Muslims protested against the American-produced anti-Islam short film which sparked outrage around the world. Most of the protesters were peaceful – praying, chanting or holding up signs; but some of the protesters held up signs vilifying the USA and they retaliated violently against the 100 police officers who oversaw the event.
SBS News further reported that eight people were arrested, two people were hospitalised after being bitten by police dogs while another 17 were treated in hospital after they were capsicum sprayed, and six police officers were injured. Since then, Islamic organisations were inundated with hate messages.
The Australian media reported that text messages were being relayed amongst Muslim youth calling for more protests in Melbourne and Sydney, and amongst Anglo-Australian youth who were seeking to fight Muslims.
The My Muslim Mates Are video has been released just as the Australian Defence Force investigates a series of Facebook messages where a retired Australian soldier and his friends espouse extremist views of violence towards Muslims.
The Muslim Mates video focuses on the fact that Muslims are ordinary, funny, peaceful and compassionate Australians, who are neighbours, friends, colleagues and community members
The Other Sociologist 