Thursday, April 18, 2019

Climate Change Skeptics In Los Angeles Face Heat Wave, Smog, Wind In Ecobee Gag

If you can't convince them, at least you can bake them, subject them to smog, and hurricane force winds--at least, that apparently was the theory of a marketing push by "smart" thermometer maker Ecobee, which just launched a video marketing push ahead of Earth Day featuring a number of Los Angeles area climate change skeptics. According to Ecobee, it recently ran a "focus group" in Los Angeles where it had invited climate change skeptics to discuss their views--and apparently kept on turning up the heat on those skeptics, turning the temperature of the room they were in up to 100 degrees, and having the group experience "extreme simulations" simulations synonymous with real-life weather conditions, including smog and hurricane-force winds. Ecobee said that it event had participants discussing climate change while wearing gas masks. The point of all the drama and theatrics? The company said it is launching an effort called #HeatedDiscussions, a social experiment to see if humor might prove a useful tool to engage climate change skeptics in serious conversations about climate change. Ecobee is a developer of "smart" thermostats, which automatically adjust the temperature of rooms to optimize energy usage. Ecobee said it created the videos with agency DCX Growth Accelerator, and will be airing various videos based on the effort on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.