Santa Fe New Mexican
Environmentalists go Hollywood in bid to raise consciousness
March 3, 1991
LOS ANGELES – E n v i r o nmental groups are now t u r n i ng to videos to raise our Ea r th consciousness and e d u c a te us on
e v e r y t h i ng f r om r e c y c l i ng to acid rain.
“We’ve become such a v i s u al culture,” said A n dy Spahn, pr e s ident of E n v i r o nme n t al Media Association, a non-prof it o r g a n ization t h at is a c l e a r inghouse of i n f o r m a t i on a nd expe r t i se f or t he
ent e r t a inment i n d u s t r y.
“And the re is such a mass audi ence ava i l able t h r o u gh t h is form of c o m m u n i c a t i o ns t h at you
have to use it.
“This is the way to reach people today.”
A ma j o r i ty of the videos f e at u re celebrities. . ” E n t e r t a i n e rs are in the u n i q ue position to reach millions of people,” S p a hn said. “People i d e n t i fy w i th t h em a nd e m u l a te t h em.
“If people can see t h at t h e ir f a v o r i t fe star is worried a b o ut our p l a n e t, t h e y, t o o, may become concerned and do s ome t h i ng a b o ut it.”
The most r e c ent e n v i r o n m e ntal video c o n t r i b u t i on is by Jolie Jones, a model, record producer
and d a u g h t er of music legend Q u i n cy Jones. Her husband is record producer Stewart Levine.
T h e ir Yakety Yak, Take It Back! – a 3Vi -mi n u te music video t h at deals w i th r e cyc l ing
and is a remake of the Coasters’ classic Yakety Yak! ~ f e a tur es p e r f o r m a n c es f r om Q u i n cy
J o n e s, B e t te M i d l e r, N a t a l ie Cole, S t e v ie Wonde r, Ozzy Osbourne, B.B. King, Qu e en L a t i f ah
and Tone Loc.
The v i d e o, w h i ch was e spe c i a lly designed for c h i l d r en and teen-agers, also has several p u bl i c –
s e rvi ce messages t h at t e ll people how and w h at to recycle.
“This is an e d u c a t i o n al c a mp a i gn focus ed on p r o m o t i ng r ec y c l i n g ,” said Deborah
Ledsi n g e r, an a d m i n i s t r a t or f or Take It Back F o u n d a t i o n, an o r g a n i z at ion f o u n d ed by Jones and Levine t h at promot es wa s te r e c y c l i n g.
The v i d eo w i ll ma ke i ts wor ld d e b ut on MTV A p r il 15 and is s c h e d u l ed to go on sale the day a f t er in r e cord
a nd v i d eo stores a r o u nd t he c o u n t r y, L e d s i n g er s a i d.
W h i le J o n e s’ video de a ls o n ly w i th r e c y c l i n g, t he Save t he Earth v i d eo p o i n ts o ut t he
n ume r o us e n v i r o n m e n t al p r o b l ems t he E a r th faces, i n c l u d i ng g l o b al w a r m i n g, acid r a in a nd t o x ic wa s t e.
It also gives p r a c t i c al advi ce on t h i n gs a pe r son can do in the h ome a nd o f f i ce to h e lp stop t he
d e s t r u c t i on of the p l a n e t, said C l a r dy Ma l u g e n, p r o d u c er of t he 6 0 – m i n u le
v i d e o.
” I t ‘s a h ow- to piece,” M a l u g en said. “We we nt all over the c o u n t ry a nd s h owed people w h at was going on.”
C h e vy Chase, C h a r l t on He s t on and Don He n l ey we re a m o ng the c e l ebr i t i es who
c o n t r i b u t ed to t he video. It is hosted by Jere B u r n s, w ho p l a ys K i rk on t he NBC comedy
s e r i es Dear John.
“We w a n t ed a real s t rong piece t h at w o u ld look at t he p r o b l ems a f f e c t i ng people,” M o l u g en s a id.
“People in the Mi dwe st have heard about the smog here, but t h ey haven’t r e a l ly seen it. “We w a n t ed to get those v i v id images and hope t h at it wo u ld e v e n t u a l ly s ink in and get people to s ay, ‘Hey, w a it a
m i n u t e, some thing is w r o ng here.’
“There is no way we could get t h at strong of a message wi th a p a m p h l et or a book.”
Save the Earth, p r i c ed at $19.95, is a v a i l a b le at the E a r th Store, 2369 West wood B l v d ., We st wood. It can be ordered by c a l l i ng (800) 888-3236.
