April Fool's Day, for those that don't know, is a chance for you to play practical jokes on people. While the pranks can be quite amusing, one that I did got me thinking...
On April 1st my editor at Triple Pundit invited us to do April Fool's Day posts, the more absurd the better. I was reading the book Revolution in a Bottle by Terracycle CEO Tom Szaky at the time, to be reviewed the next week. Having soaked in all things Terracycle for the past week, I was full of facets of Terracycle to poke fun at.
So I wrote a piece, pleased at how over the top it was, how people would laugh and have a good time with it. This, along with GM becoming a bike company, American Airlines going into the zeppelin flight business, complete with bungee jumping. You get the idea.
Then something happened.
This piece, talking about them merging with Scotts Miracle Gro because of WUSS syndrome (Worm Under Supply Syndrome) going petroleum based because there's now a glut of "waste" oil due to a slower economy, and now being required to wear yellow and green uniforms was, with any measure of scrutiny, pure hogwash.
And yet, many people believed it. Terracycle got 4 emails and 3 calls by 9:30a their time, people concerned about this merger and the implications. Several more people commented on the article itself, to me via StumbleUpon, on Twitter, and through email, all distraught and disappointed.
Amusing as this was, I felt disturbed. Were these people just gullible exceptions, am I that trustworthy/clever a writer, or are people just not paying attention? My ego says option #2, but my gut says #3. Probably a mixture of all three.
While I've long known that people are predisposed to read very quickly when it comes to blog entries, and have geared my writing to match with that tendency, this was the clearest demonstration of that. And to know this, and see how easily people could be convinced of something so serious as the downfall of a major green company, made me acutely aware of the power that words and trust can have.
So why am I writing about this? My wish is that with this knowledge, you will not abuse people's trust, damaging the credibility of what we as green business people have built. You hear all the time of people becoming increasingly cynical when it comes to green claims. But I think people underneath are searching, wanting something, someone to believe in and trust.
I say earn it, deserve it, and use it for positive ends. Please.
