How Sudan Could Re-Brand

Politicians and Police Officers are not the only victims of the media age. And why we can look with pity at good ‘ole boy Senators losing their rights to shout epitaphs at rallies and crime-fighting cops getting in trouble for tasing 13 year olds repeatedly, I must inform you: It gets worse. Today, in a time when every one’s a videographer, even killing Africans–the West’s perpetual those people–is becoming a tricky business. What would have once gotten them a wink, a nod, and an armaments shipment, has instead made Sudan something of a pariah (I stress something). Now, don’t worry, the images, though graphic, probably aren’t enough to compete with Keeping Up With The Kardashians and there’s a whole lot more squabbling to be done about handbags and semantics before we actually do something, but still, Sudan could find itself victim of a fate that has evaded previous butchers and madmen: The world may one day say stop.

Thus it is imperative that Sudan rejoin the conversation. I need not tell them that their brand has taken a hit. And I’m no marketing person, though like all young people their pictures adorn my walls, but I do think there are certain common sense ways the Sudanese could employ the very tools which are now putting them in this mess. So here it goes: A few ways Sudan can connect with their audience, rebuild their brand, and tell their story.

• There must be at least some times in the day when your militias and soldiers aren’t slaughtering people; so snap a few photos, shoot a few videos. Get a soldier laughing against a tree or a militiaman making a funny face. Put them online for the world to see, saying, “look, were human beings too!”. This in the west is what we call “Transparency”.
• Tell us why you’re killing, who you’re killing, why they deserve it, why you’re critics are wrong, why they just don’t get you, and then tell it and re-tell and re-tell it. I’ve yet to see one thing, no matter how awful and repugnant, that can’t be made palatable by the Internet’s ability to seamlessly mix shit with truth. If you can make the ‘You’re all over-reacting’ meme go viral, you’ll have a die-hard community of support in less than a week.
• Let’s face it, you’ve lost the battle of the ‘G’ word. We’re all calling it genocide (pain in the ass, these eyes), but don’t run from it, own it. Is Genocide.com available? Join the genocide conversation! Participate, blog your experiences, go to meetups, etc. Believe me, you do this and there’s nothing you can’t get away with.
• Have an elevator pitch? Get one!

These are obviously just a few suggestions and, no doubt, there are people who know far more about this stuff than me. But, remember, there’s no more reality, just branding. No truth or right, it’s all just ‘part of the conversation’. Join in. Because there may come a time when we here actually want to do something about Darfur, but right now, it’s not too late to make it truly too late.