Here’s how we won on straws, and why you should care

“How are things going with the straws?” That’s what pretty much everyone is asking me these days. Normally, I’m used to having the same conversation over and over; there’s never not some cultural slang or song using Bay. These days, though, a crazy thing is also happening: we’re winning on straws.   Everyone is talking about it. And it is working. 

Bay Scoggin

“How are things going with the straws?”

That’s what pretty much everyone is asking me these days. Normally, I’m used to having the same conversation over and over; there’s never not some cultural slang or song using Bay.

These days, though, a crazy thing is also happening: we’re winning on straws.

Everyone is talking about it. And it is working.

Recently, as I’m sure you saw (more on that in a second), Starbucks became the biggest corporation in America to begin phasing out single use plastic straws.

Ultimately, it meant they viewed the value of your eyeballs on their announcement and your warm fuzzy’s over their stance as greater than the value of the plastic straws. Yes, they did it because they knew you would see it and like it and share it, but think about how important that is.

Digital marketing, online brand management, companies desperately attempting to contact a more youthful generation, has become so valuable, that when we generate enough attention on a subject, we are likely to affect some change. Like with the straws.

This is real power.

It’s your power. It’s people power. It’s consumer power.

I constantly sense that my generation and even beyond feel more and more like there’s nothing we can do to support the things we believe, to promote the values we share.

So I’m excited about our most recent victory on straws, with hopefully more to come, because it hints at something so much bigger.

It means that if we put everyone’s attention on what we are trying to achieve, that we have a chance to take back the power we somehow, somewhere, felt like we lost.

Better yet, that something as simple as a like, a share, a comment, anything, on some positive post we support, can mean the world.

Heck, if we did it enough, we might even be able to save the planet. 

Authors

Bay Scoggin