DO THE RIGHT THING
In 1975 Australia faced a quandary. It suffered social problems that were affecting community development and society in general. I was living in Australia at that time waiting to join the Armed Forces and so I would like to share a story with you about how an extraordinary initiative turned the entire country around, for the better. In one fell swoop Australia addressed a complete change in moral thinking and behaviour. It took courage and twenty five years but the end result was the mature evolution and development into a hugely respected nation state.
One of the key problems facing Sydney at the time was litter, the basis of which was down to two things, physical behaviour and mental attitude. In order to clear up both mental and physical behaviour they decided to tackle litter head on. If they could get people to stop dropping litter, they could get people to address other behavioural issues. They chose litter for good reason. Litter on the streets was symptomatic of the then Australian psyche – “some other bloke is paid to pick up my rubbish, so I’ll drop it where I like, mate.” Similar racial attitudes to Aboriginals abounded. The economic burden that went with this macho image was part of the equation. But to be successful they were going to have to plumb the depths of the very core being that made up the general thinking of the population – no easy task – unless it was bold.
So, the central question posed was ‘How are we going to deal with the last quarter of the century and prepare ourselves to meet the 21st century?’ The City decided on a thirty second television transmission that consisted of three people, a bench and a bin.
Picture then, a young Australian ‘bloke’ walking along Bondi with a recently purchased ice cream. He spots two ‘sheila’s’ on a bench eyeing him, and in typical Aussie macho fashion, ignores the bin and, to impress the girls, slings the wrapper on the ground. Typical normal behaviour. Then suddenly something quite unexpected happens; the bin speaks and you hear the words “Oi mate – do the right thing.” (Never had such a challenge been made before). Immediately the following happens: the girls are embarrassed and the young man is humbled. So much so, he picks up the wrapper and puts it in the bin, which responds by saying: “No worries, mate.” The transmission ends with a simple monosyllabic tune encompassing the four words ‘Do The Right Thing’ followed by the tick symbol. (I saw the first broadcast and watched with fascination how the effects of this regularly transmitted initiative started to change the thinking of people around me).
Statisticians were on hand to monitor the effects of this regularly run transmission and within a number of months the effect was so great, people had stopped dropping litter. The bold message had hit a groove that went right through the rest of New South Wales and then across the rest of Australia. So successful had it been hitting the right spot, it soon progressed its association with more than litter and those four simple words Do the Right Thing became synonymous with other moral behaviour issues – attitudes to alcohol, drink driving, racial issues and so on - it was quite simply one of the most electrifying outputs I have ever seen.
The final outcome was at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when Australia presented itself to the world as one of the most advanced and statesman like countries, a country that had come of age, highlighted by an Aboriginal girl lighting the Olympic flame. This extraordinary development all came about from that simple but courageous transmission twenty five years earlier and not that long ago I sat on the Campbeltown bus beside an Australian visitor and, striking up a conversation, they confirmed those words and that campaign, now forty five years later ‘was still going strong, mate, changed our entire nation…’
I believe passionately that Scotland is faced with a similar opportunity at this moment in its history and that Scottish Society is positioned well to start a similar initiative that would yield similar social benefits of improved well being to the people of Scotland – but it will take courage and Scotland has that in abundance...
