Small Strokes Big Oaks

I love WBEZ. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, it is Chicagoland’s NPR affiliate station. I find the news stories they report to be unbiased, un-sensationalized, and well-researched even if it means they were not the first to report it. In a world where we are barraged with “news” 24/7, often finding information that is untrue or unchecked because news stations are in a winner-takes-all battle to get the quickest, most “interesting” news out there before anyone else, it is refreshing to listen in on my way to and from work for both the facts and the opinions the reporters espouse.

Though I do believe that many liberal people listen to WBEZ – and NPR in general – I wouldn’t even necessarily call it a liberal station. Part of its refreshing nature is its unbiased reporting. For example, they ran a series not too long ago about gun owners and their various reasons for having guns. They didn’t push a gun control angle or anything, they just interviewed people about their guns. The viewpoints were amazing and eye-opening, especially for a liberal, pro-gun control activist such as myself.

It’s also wonderful to listen to WBEZ because of its lack of advertising. So much of advertising today is all about pushing, pushing, pushing using whatever techniques work. Ads have gone from hilarious and smart to offensive and disgusting in a very short time, and I don’t think this is just my heightened consciousness since I’ve become involved in the feminist community.

So imagine my surprise when, as I’m listening to Pandora radio and crafting in my new craft nook (post about that coming soon) and I hear an ad for WBEZ asking listeners to create more babies in order to make more new listeners for the station. The ad directed listeners to a website – gomakebabies.com (I wish I were making this up) – which is a sort of dating site for NPR listeners.

Aside from the obvious questionable implications of asking users to hook up with each other, this ad campaign brings up a host of issues that I don’t think their marketing people anticipated. It can be seen as a comment on birth control, abortion, family planning, fertility, heterosexuality, and a demand to create more babies – something women (particularly those my age) are all too familiar with.

The underlying assumption here is that everyone wants babies, everyone can have babies, and NPR listeners should conceive those babies in heterosexual relationships. Furthermore, it seems that WBEZ doesn’t care if its a sustainable relationship or a one night stand.

While many have argued that this is pure satire, I disagree. Dictionary.com defines satire as: “1. the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing,denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.; 2. a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule.” WBEZ’s marketing campaign may be using irony or sarcasm, but they are not denouncing or deriding vice, and they certainly aren’t scorning or ridiculing human folly. They are, in fact, making the completely logical assumption that children are often exposed to WBEZ by their parents and, if listeners had more babies, they would in turn become listeners themselves. This isn’t satire; this is logic. Satire isn’t asking people to have more babies, it’s asking people to eat their babies to avoid famine. Satire is something so ridiculous it couldn’t possibly be true. Since it is so logical, WBEZ’s attempt fell extremely short of satire.

Attempts at a literary technique that seems simple yet is ridiculously difficult to complete correctly aside, part of what I love about independently funded media is the reprieve I get from the constant baby push. It seems that everywhere I turn – blogs, shows, movies, advertisements, friends and family – has something to say about my bearing children. WBEZ was one place I could go where I was confident I wouldn’t have to suffer yet more pressure to pop out some babies. Unfortunately, this no longer seems to be the case.

I truly expected more from WBEZ. I expected them and their marketing people to be more attune to their demographic, who are “Interesting People” according to the billboard pictured above and, as such, are probably educated. It’s a well-known fact that educated people are waiting longer and longer to have children and don’t want to be pressured to hurry up. Regardless of demographics, I expected them to have more empathy for people who don’t want kids or who can’t conceive or who identify as LGBTQ and are completely overlooked by these ads. Apparently my expectations were too high.

I will probably not stop listening to WBEZ, but I am wholeheartedly disappointed that it has joined the ranks of horrible marketing we see every single day.

Photo Credit: Nico Lang, WBEZ