ABSTRACT
Apart from the direct actions against concrete building projects (by way in sharp contrast to motives according to the motto: 'Not-in-my-backyard'; see Plane Stupid Germany 2013) the group organized a cinema campaign in 2009. For this purpose, a video clip called 'Polar Bear,' lasting around one minute, was produced:" Along the skyscrapers in an office district, dozens of polar bears are tumbling out of the skies. Shortly after the start, the camera angle changes and the bears are approaching dangerously close to the viewer. In the background you can hear the sharp blasts of an obviously low-flyingjet plane. The commercial ends with the statement: "An average European flight produces over 400 kg of greenhouse gases from every passenger ... that's the weight of an adult polar bear." While the organization Campaign for Better Transport, also from Great Britain.? comes up with alternative ways of transport such as buses and trains, and aims at a change in awareness by providing (enlightening) information, Plane Stupid focused on shock effects by using the 'Splatter' genre." The polar bear, icon for the vulnerability of the Earth in times of climate change (Manzo 2009), serves drastically as the warning voice. According to Toilmann, the video clip includes the foilowing message:
[T]his time the polar bear does not stay on ice floes without touching the human living environment. On the contrary, in an almost surrealist style, the video clip brings two issues together [meaning the wildlife and the human life-world], which at first glance have nothing in common. Secondly, ... the polar bears 'physically' hit the cold hard surface of the capitalistic architecture. Natural and built environment come together in a radical way .... And the statement of the individual 'offender' or victim, is a much more direct criticism of capitalistic structures.
