Zoos Try "Viral Video" Starring a…Porcupine
Ad aims to pressure Albany to keep state funding of zoos and botanical gardens
The Bronx Zoo doesn't want Albany to cut its funding, and it's using a grassroots approach.
How can the Bronx Zoo even think about laying off a porcupine?!?!?
That's the thought behind a cute video the Coalition of Living Museums (tagline: "Preserving the Past, Improving the Present, and Education for the Future") is hoping to use to put pressure on Albany to keep state funding of zoos and botanical gardens.
In his budget proposal for this coming year Gov. Paterson slashed state funding for zoos and the like by half and zeroes them out next year. The parks say that would decimate them and leave many to close.
So while the health care industry has millions to spend (courtesy of the union and the hospitals) on big-budget TV ads the zoos have resorted to a homemade clip they hope will go viral, passed from one concerned zoo lover to the next.
It ain't very slick but who knew porcupines were, well, cute?
Check it out here: http://www.wcs.org/ (the video is on the left side below the header labelled "Watch this video and send it to your friends."
