Journal Entry 3: The Elephant Parade

Two weekends ago the communication program made its first excursion out of central London to Stonehenge and the city of Bath. We had the privilege of taking this trip in the comfort of a large touring coach and with the aid of our helpful tour guide Angie. While passing the shopping district on our way out the city, Angie leapt from her seat and shouted about some sort of elephant. At first I thought she might have been crazy but on further inquiry into what she meant, I was directed to look out the window. When I did, my eyes fell upon a decorated elephant statue that stood right in the center of the busy sidewalk. Angie went on to tell me the story as to why this colorful elephant stood there in the middle of the street. That specific statue was one of many elephant monuments that lay scattered all over the city in an effort to provide awareness about the plight of the Asian Elephant. A host of designers and artists have hand painted life sized baby elephants, which they have placed at landmark locations all around London. As described in a local London magazine, “A whole host of designers and artists including Lulu Guinness, Tommy Hilfiger and Jack Vettriano have hand painted life-sized baby elephant statues, which will appear on the night of May 3 at landmark London locations such as Parliament Square, Hyde Park and the South Bank. The Elephant Family charity has planned London's biggest ever public art event to raise awareness of the plight of Asian elephants, which it says are more endangered than their African cousins.” This is social media at its finest. When she began to explain the significance of the elephant, I instantly came to realize its connection to this class. An every day city walker or tourist like myself strolls the streets of this city and is submissive to media projections from every angle. This campaign is a unique form of media projection that takes advantage of this aspect to promote a positive cause while involving influential contributors who have expressed their creativity in a unique way. I then traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark this past weekend. As I went to depart back to London, I walked through the halls of the airport and came across yet another painted elephant statue. This campaign has now reached its campaign countries away. The campaign spans the world in the following countries: London, Copenhagen, Heerlen, Singapore and Milan. With my prior knowledge on the statue, I was thrilled to see the elephant and became even more interested in the work of the organization which is exactly what their mission was meant to do: spread awareness and interest. The target audience for this campaign truly spans all audiences. It is a form of media campaign that has created quite the stir and in a unique and expressive way. 

The Elephant Parade Website:

http://elephantparade.com/