save this planet or we’ll smash your prius

Besides reproducing my favorite magazine cover of all time, Seth Godin drives home the extreme difficulty of marketing the abstract threat, the distant harm, the dying people in Africa, the poor on the other side of town, and anything that doesn’t affect me personally.

Seth’s post marries up well with the study Nicholas Kristof recently wrote about showing how much more power the example of one has on potential donors than the suffering of millions — or even the suffering of two.

It sure would be great if human nature was different, but given that we must work with the world as it is, to connect with your audience, tell a story about one person, one family, or one thing.