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Celebrity spokesperson?

AbsoluteApril

AbsoluteApril

mighty blue justice
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this has been mentioned a few times and I wanted to try to see what can really be done. Can we, as a reptile community, get a celebrity spokesperson to help us fight the bans? What do you think? Is it worth it to try? Would it help us? I was thinking it would as having a celebrity may get more awareness out there to the general populace but what do you think?

Should I just contact USARK directly? That was the avenue I was thinking to go through. Any other public education organizations that you would recommend?

Some celebrities mentioned before as being reptile lovers:
Slash
Alice Cooper
Betty White
Henry Rollins
Nick Cage (I think he used to keep crocs?)
who else?

Recently I was thinking someone that may actually be willing to help and maybe, maybe be accessible is Dominic Monaghan. He has a show in the UK called Doms Wild Things (which I think is coming to the US via BBC this month? edit - coming Jan 10th to the US).

I wonder if a celebrity would donate their time for a photo campaign? I'm trying to research this some more, if anyone has any tips or ideas they would be most welcome.

still reading through this: http://comprehension.prsa.org/?p=2069 "Things I Wish I Knew When Securing a Celebrity Spokesperson"

any thoughts or feedback? Wasting my time?

Dom rocks but I read on his wiki he supported Peta, but it was wiki, so who knows.

Perhaps USARK can lease the rights to some photos that already exist and get him to make a statement? just brain storming.. not sure how this would all work yet

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Alice is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. He is experienced with politicians due to his work with his christian foundation for youth and every one who has met him is impressed with him. I'd die for an Alice/Betty pro reptile commercial!
 
I'd love to get Alice involved if possible, Betty as well. One of my coworkers has done some acting and worked with Betty White before, I'm going to see if she has any inside contact info she can hook me up with. I figure best bet is to just contact as many reptile-friendly celebs as possible (well, their management companies anyways) and maybe one will stick. Of course I'd need to get an okay from USARK or whatever other organization is willing, because most celebs still want to get paid for PSAs and I can't front it all myself (photo shoot, travel expense, hotel/food, celeb commission/payment, etc).

I'm hoping people have some ideas about this or additional feedback on a course of action to pursue. Or even just if it sounds like a good idea. :)

What would people want to see in a print ad with a celeb and a constrictor? just saying how great these pets are? giving educational info? Trying to expose the lies being told? what would be the best approach to have the most impact on a general public that dislikes/fears/doesn't care about reptiles?
 

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AbsoluteApril said:
I'm hoping people have some ideas about this or additional feedback on a course of action to pursue. Or even just if it sounds like a good idea. :)

What would people want to see in a print ad with a celeb and a constrictor? just saying how great these pets are? giving educational info? Trying to expose the lies being told? what would be the best approach to have the most impact on a general public that dislikes/fears/doesn't care about reptiles?
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Betty White's flippin' awesome. I'd think someone like her; who's not already perceived as being part of the lunatic fringe, due to a rockstar persona or being covered with tatts, would be a great spokesperson. I think that just throwing out as many feelers as possible would be a good start. As you said, maybe at least one would stick. I'm not an idea guy, but I think it'd be good to show "regular" people who happen to love reptiles. It wouldn't hurt to mention how poorly-thought-out information is influencing legislators to take more steps to restrict peoples' rights to lawfully pursue a livelihood in the exotic pet trade. May also be a good idea to inform people just how big of an industry that this is, and how many people help support their families by their involvement in the trade.
 
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