Whales Get Honor Treatment from Contrite Japanese

greenpeace_whaling.jpg

Leo Burnett made this pretty little GreenPeace video for Japan, which is currently undergoing some drama having to do with whaling and such.

Because whale meat was the main source of protein for the island after WWII, Japan feels it has the right to go on whaling, even if there’s no demand for the meat (according to the Greenpeace pressie, considering we don’t ourselves know how much or how little the island folk need whale meat today).

So Greenpeace goes, okay, let’s restructure this historical conversation and turn the notion of man-to-whale relationships into one of reciprocal respect, instead of a Giving Tree situation (we hated that book, by the way) – where one side keeps giving until there’s just nothing left.

So here we have an elderly man who reminisces about eating whale meat in school, then rushes out to save a whale from beaching on the shore. The logic is that once upon a time the whales helped them; now it is time to return the favor.

While this scenario is pretty unlikely in real life, it’s touching in the same way, oh, Pokemon can be touching once you’ve developed a really strong sense for Ash’s relationship with Pikachu.

Rarely do we get sentimental about our seafood. Then again, we’ve never eaten anything that was going extinct. Unless crabs count, because if The Deadliest Catch remains as addictive as it is, they’re going to be gone pretty damn quickly.

Picture of Steve Hall

Steve Hall

RECENT ARTICLES

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

People who make difficult days feel a little lighter tend to do these 8 things

People who make difficult days feel a little lighter tend to do these 8 things

Hack Spirit

Stanford researchers who tracked how people’s social circles change with age found that older adults don’t lose the ability to make friends — they simply get pickier, deliberately keeping fewer relationships that feel meaningful and letting the rest go, a shift linked to higher emotional well-being, not less

Stanford researchers who tracked how people’s social circles change with age found that older adults don’t lose the ability to make friends — they simply get pickier, deliberately keeping fewer relationships that feel meaningful and letting the rest go, a shift linked to higher emotional well-being, not less

Global English Editing

9 things lifelong readers pick up on that other people miss entirely

9 things lifelong readers pick up on that other people miss entirely

Hack Spirit

7 habits that separate quick decision-makers from chronic overthinkers

7 habits that separate quick decision-makers from chronic overthinkers

Hack Spirit

Since 2000, Northwestern Medicine has tracked 290 volunteers over age 80 using a 15-word memory test, and after 25 years the ones who still score like adults in their fifties and sixties turn out to share one habit above the rest: close, frequent contact with other people.

Since 2000, Northwestern Medicine has tracked 290 volunteers over age 80 using a 15-word memory test, and after 25 years the ones who still score like adults in their fifties and sixties turn out to share one habit above the rest: close, frequent contact with other people.

Global English Editing

8 small rituals that make time alone feel restorative instead of empty

8 small rituals that make time alone feel restorative instead of empty

Hack Spirit