Got Drought?

GotDrought? began as a concept for a few billboards and blossomed into a statewide campaign, aiming to draw parallels between industrialized animal agriculture and the drought in California.

Did you know that the choices you make could potentially save over 3,000 gallons of water? That saves a whole lot more than taking a short shower or pulling your lawn out! Industry and lawmakers refer to the drought in California as a “long-term problem” but so far have only offered short-term solutions such as “if its yellow, let it mellow”. The GotDrought campaign strives to motivate Californians to send a message to our industrial agriculture industry “Let’s milk a few less cows and save the world!”

      1616 S. Los Angeles St. DTLA

      4050 Lincoln Blvd, Venice, CA —Del Tacos marquee shortly after invites customers to “Try Our Salads!” 

Two months later and after 20+ years in business, this was all that remained

STRATEGY:
Vegan activism has one big fault; it appeals mostly to people who are already vegan, alienating the group they want to reach. People who feel like they’re being shamed are likely to become defensive or just turn off. I might even say nobody changes themselves so drastically in response to being scolded.

GotDroughts messaging, rather than giving the standard “you’re wrong for doing this” message, gives the public sets of simple choices on how they can save water; domestic choices that require drastic lifestyle changes with very small effect on water conservation, and a simple meal alternative that saves lots and lots of water. With web and social media resources to supply the public with information about the water footprint of different foods, people can make small, unintrusive decisions every day as they feel, sending a big message to big agriculture. To make a long story short —people think ideas are smarter when they think they’re the ones who thought of it!

GotDrought? has currently received grants and donations of over $21,694 towards more than a dozen billboards, a social media campaign reaching hundreds of followers, cross-promotional products, involvement in art shows, city-wide events, panel discussions, and workshops. Next month: Northern California!

SOCIAL MEDIA

A critical element in the GotDrought? campaign was utilizing social media to direct people to more information as well as keep a community of educated eaters. As expected, the majority of initial responses to the billboards was disbelief; the numbers were so outrageous that a breakdown of the facts and a forum to discuss, and sometimes debate, the realities of industrial water use was a necessity. Online presence and daily bites of info ignited curiosity and directed eyes to the GotDrought? website for the full story.

A photo of a GotDrought? billboard recently went viral in January 2016 and received 9,500 likes, 24,117 shares and 1,300 comments.

A similar photo of a billboard in Los Angeles went viral on October 5, 2016 with had 4,400 likes, 459 comments and 8,074 shares.

Visitors to the GotDrought website have access to a water calculator that determines the water footprint of different meals. This asset enables the public to inform themselves, and make little adjustments in their day to save lots of water. Similar to “taking the stairs”, every little bit adds up.