Nickelodeon's Token Earth Day Tribute is a Mockery

I came across this news bulletin on Variety's website during my internet news browsings. Apparently on Earth Day, Nickelodeon is going to tell its viewers to turn off all electronic gadgets for one minute to "symbolize a commitment to saving the environment." Now, all gimmickyness aside, I thought it was a nice, if small gesture on Nickelodeon's part to point out to kids that Earth Day is taking place and open them up to the idea of saving electricity and whatnot. Until I read further.

This call to turn off electronic gadgets does NOT include the TV set; heaven forbid that Nickelodeon should lose any viewers. Its a similar hypocrisy to when Nick Jr. tells preschoolers they should go outside and play, then follows up with a "Coming up next" advertisement. But hey, they're a television channel, and their business is to have customers, so I'll give them a pass on that. I look to see what time this magical minute is going to take place. Will they do it the morning, when the youngest kids are around, or wait for the afternoon when the teenagers are out of school and plopped in front of the set? Nope, they'll be hosting their Earth Day minute at 9 PM that night. Yes, 9 PM. A time when much of Nickelodeon's key demographic will either be watching prime time television, in bed, or doing last minute homework. Those who do watch will probably be among the older generation hoping to catch Nick at Nite. Now while they could do with a reminder too about conservation and the environment, kids are the ones that need to be targeted by Earth Day so they start thinking about recycling and turning off that extra light when they're not in a room.

If Nickelodeon wants to actually get behind its message, they should move that minute up to a time slot where it may actually have an impact. For now, we can chock up this "conservation minute" to nothing more than an obligatory PR move, and a badly managed one at that.