Audrey Hepburn is having Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the new joint that’s just opened up on a trendy corner of Manhattan. The food’s great and she’s letting everyone know by throwing a filter on it for Instagram.
While it rests seductively on a bed of rye, the crushed avocado might as well be wearing the famous Givenchy black dress, clutching that foot-long cigarette holder as it becomes the subject of it’s very own iconic, 21st-century photoshoot. Another victim of the “look what I’m eating!” collection. Andy Warhol quite literally eat your heart out.
Forget Audrey Hepburn the Hollywood star, today she’d be Audrey Hepburn the influencer with twenty million followers. Every celebrity is sharing their life by the gram these days — what makes you think she’d be any different if she was around today?
Angles, filters, captions and uploads all ensure it’s five minutes between service and consumption every time we go out to eat with an iPhone in our hand. In Audrey’s case, the food’s probably gone cold and the bread’s probably gone soggy. Social media once again parading its propensity for distraction from the bigger picture.
Sending a message
And the bigger picture has never felt bigger. These days the global climate crisis is in full-frame and you can’t put a snazzy Instagram filter on this one. It’s no longer that thing lurking in the background that would sort of fix itself eventually.
However, when it comes to engagement with climate issues, something feels different this time. The usual culprits are now the leaders. Unimpressed with political soundbites and stagnant approaches from typically their elders, the iPhone generation is getting their act together.
As well as being active in the outside world, they’re utilizing social media to spread a message and unite people for a global cause. By openly discussing and promoting engagement with climate distress, they’re inspiring action.
The last month (since the catalytic global crisis strike on September 20th) has disproved what was once considered a dichotomy between global awareness and the isolating powers of social media. We’re now left with a seemingly much healthier marriage between the two. Turns out that unlike disregarded avocado, this is a subject that hasn’t gone luke-warm.
Putting our best foot forward
The recent global crisis strike and the ongoing extinction rebellion demonstrations have had their biggest turnouts yet. And all as the result of a sixteen-year-old girl’s rallying cry which is reverberating around the four corners of the world. Now a younger generation with years of social media experience is able to connect to a wider audience and create an attuned identity and a global movement increasingly gathering momentum. A generation that is beginning to care more about food waste than body shapes.
Greta Thunberg started a healthy trend. Teenagers like Xiya Bastida and John Paul Jose are now using their platforms to mobilize action. Such dogged demonstration from them and millions of others are galvanizing those triple their age. And not just people but corporations. Take the Guardian, which has been running since 1959, and their recent pledge to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030.
Our stance
At OPX, we were influenced too. It’s an issue we’ve always given attention to, whether it be through the clients we choose to work with or more simply, the small steps we take in our daily studio lives. But the brave activism of a younger generation provided an opportunity for us to strike, showcase our support and join with them around the world. Long may it continue and long may the planet continue.
Written by Henry King, Copywriter
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