By Rick Stanton
Food: I know something about the food industry in our state. I’ve worked on advertising for the Washington State Potato Commission, the Dairy Farmers of Washington, and, of course, the Washington Fryer Commission.
And on the other end of the food chain, I’ve worked for Restaurants Unlimited and Consolidated Restaurants.
Lastly, Stanton Bondo & Co. had the Safeway NW account for a number of years.
What do all these accounts have in common? Two things: They depend on one another, and they work in proximity to each other.
And in the case of commissions, they depend largely on itinerant workers, most of whom have no healthcare.
My point?
The food chain is in trouble, and if it reaches a tipping point, we’re all going to be in deep trouble.
Restaurants are closed, so no one is buying food products from our farmers. And exports have all but ground to a halt.
Grocery stores are seeing reduced visits, which means reduced revenues, except for people hoarding, but that doesn’t make up for the three or four times a week I typically visited our local grocer . . . until now.
What if food becomes the next pandemic? A loaf of bread goes for $10? A package of boneless-chicken breast for $30? And who knows if we’ll ever see fresh salmon again. And if we do, it’ll cost $100 a pound.
In our state, we grow and raise pretty much everything. But if agriculture grinds to a halt, the trickle-down may be as bad and even more lasting than this cataclysmic Covid-19 virus.
If I had the chance to talk to Governor Inslee, I’d ask him what part of his plan includes helping our farmers.
Does his brain trust see the potential disaster for our state’s short- and long-term economy and the effect this will have on everyone, especially the lowest income Washingtonians?
The Pyramid Ale House announced it’s closing . . . permanently. This is likely the tip of the iceberg. And we all know what happened to the Titanic.
I’m not trying to be an alarmist.
But as someone who has seen first-hand how our agri-biz functions, I’m trying to be a realist, and I wish Inslee would be, as well.
ASPCA TV: So, 11% of our state is out of work. Food banks can’t keep up and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Yet the ASPCA is running an ad asking for a year’s worth of donations. to the tune of $225.
The ad they’re running now is hard to watch, even without a pandemic that’s killing people and making both human and animal life harder. Shots of broken animals, some barely alive, a horse that looks like it’s literally on its last leg, terrified caged dogs and cats . . .
People do horrible things to animals, but $225 a year is going to be important to a lot of families pretty darned soon, if not now.
This call for donations seems ill-timed, and the creative is pure and simply emotional extortion.
Below is their ad. If you haven’t seen it, brace yourself.
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/I8iI/aspca-in-the-next-minute
I’ve also attached links to a couple of old Pedigree ads that show what the message should feel like, while showing what good companies and good ad agencies subscribe to, without resorting to violence. Adoption should be the message, not money.
Get Your Brain Around This: The Viet Nam war lasted nearly 20 years, and our country lost 58,220 people in the debacle.
Since February 29th this year, when the first death from Covid-19 occurred in the U.S., the death count has now overtaken the losses from a 19-year armed conflict.
In two months.
When I see city leaders, state politicians and county law-enforcement officers demanding to open the state or saying they will defy the governor’s Stay-At-Home mandate it reminds me that there are a lot of stupid people who shouldn’t be in the jobs they occupy.
I’d like to get a haircut. I’m beginning to look like I’m one of the cavemen in the old Geico ads.
I’d like to not have to wear a mask. It fogs up my glasses.
I’d like to have friends over for a dinner party.
I’d like to have lunch at The Met with my pals Tim and Charlie.
But what I’d really like more is to remain alive.
Get your brain around this situation, not your emotions.
Don’t do anything rash or stupid.
Lastly, maybe one of the takeaways from this, at least for me going forward, is: A lot more people can and should work from home after this blows over.
Less traffic, better air quality and fewer idiots on the road driving like their shoes are too tight might be a good thing around here.
And don’t heed or embrace anything Trump has to say about this mess.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/03/anthony-fauci-donald-trump-coronavirus-claimsg
