The recent NRMA advertising has prompted this article. Pivoting around the koala as a theme, I believe that their promise of planting a tree is just window dressing – not to mention the irresponsible depiction of koala and human interaction.
The current NRMA advertising states they will plant a tree for every new insurance policy purchased for an old or new home, using the plight of the koala as reasoning. While conceptually it sounds like a great idea, there are a number of things to take into consideration.
With today's current building culture, you still have to clear the land to suit the needs of society – which benefits NRMA before the koala. The television advertisement features a scene where a boy is trying to find an area for the koala, but the area is cleared. Why? A new house is going to be developed on that site.
Take a closer look. It's a cleared rectangle for new housing, benefiting only the NRMA – an organization clearly hoping to use the koala and its struggle to increase their insurance figures. Increasing their sales relies on new homes being built, and whether this is directly for new homes or developing old ones, it still means that trees will be removed. This is progress, with the needs of society met first, quickly followed by those of the corporate insurance industry.
I believe that it's a rather cheap shot at the weak koala conservation industry. Other than koalas sometimes using power poles for protection from potential predators (which can also include the boy), this entire story-line just doesn't stack up. The koala, in reality, has no idea who is friend or foe.
Planting a tree is just window dressing. Unfortunately, corporate culture is often all about image – ideally being seen as doing their part but, in fact, it's a 'front of shop' image that stops at real cultural change. NRMA says it is going to plant one tree per house policy, yet they fail to explain how they are going to manage those trees from a young sapling stage to maturity.
To genuinely plant a tree, that tree needs five years of management. This includes at least two litres of water per day, not to mention the protection. How are you going to protect young trees? If you plant thousands, you will need a fence to surround the young saplings to protect them from rabbits and other domestic farm animals. And of course, the requirements for each sapling will vary depending on the planting site.
Of the many trees that they are proposing to plant with positive intentions, less then half will make it to maturity. This is because of the costs associated with the management of those trees. Without ongoing investment, the percentage of young trees dying gradually increases.
Playing the hero card
The advertisement shows just how out of touch the NRMA is. They use the koala to play the hero when, in fact, they are just doing the opposite – if anything, they're maintaining old stereotypes. Portraying an image of a young child having the ability to protect a koala is an out-dated and a very conservative perception. It's also trying to use a familiar story-line when the truth is, in today's society, it's rare to see a koala, particularly in urban Australia.
If you're interested in saving the koala, sure – do your research, as the boy does in the ad, or Google for more information. And if you're really interested, return the next day, to see if the koala is still there.
"Well what's the problem"? Koalas live in their time frame, not ours! Koalas will work it out for themselves. There's no need for any action, other than observation, the koala will remove itself from the pole – when it's good and ready! That should be the end of the story.
But no, in the story-line, the boy gets angry the following day, because the Koala wouldn't come down when he tries to coax him to come down with a branch of leaves. He kicks the branch in frustration.
But as he turns around, the koala has come down from the pole and is now sitting in the boy's bike trailer, on the gum leaves the boy has collected. Why? There is no need for this scene. Koalas are herbivores with a very distinct taste. This would go against the research the boy had undertaken.
And having the koala suddenly pop out of nowhere and happily sit in the boy's trailer is unlikely and unbelievable. To me, it's irresponsible and sending a wrong message. This is an unnecessary scene that should have been avoided.
The NRMA should teach everyone – including young kids – how to respect animals from a distance.
The director, Gary Freedman, should have researched the industry and subsequently modernized the story-line, with the boy simply going to school the next day and doing a talk on koalas in front of his schoolmates. A much better approach!
The advertisement is ridiculous. The story-line and the imagery are incredibly disconnected from today's environment. That advertisers can get away with this is unsettling.
From personal and professional experience, I believe the NRMA is out of touch compared to contemporary insurers. This is further reinforced by their out-dated approach to marketing and blatant use of the koala for their benefit.
It saddens me that they are using the koala to manipulate the Australian public in this manner. It's representations like these that only serve to maintain the already alternate reality we are in.
To view the advertisement: https://mumbrella.com.au/nrma-rescues-another-koala-593033 from Koala Retreat Consulting Services
https://www.koalaretreat.com