On one hand, I have to admit that this is a hilarious story. The somewhat stodgy British Research Council has a branch named the National Environmental Research Council (NERC). The NERC is the agency that explores the world’s oceans and it does vital research into the polar ice caps, Antarctica and other land masses. The name – Boaty McBoatface. Amazing!
Alas, few people outside of the NERC knows much about the mission of the organization and so when the agency was about to receive the delivery of a brand new research vessel, the PR department of the research council hit upon a great idea: it would launch an internet boat naming poll. The naming poll would accomplish two things: it would bring more people to the website (and hence, people could learn more about the organization), and the $287 million ship would no longer be nameless.
The “public” would name the vessel. Brilliant! They had absolute confidence the public would come up with a wonderful name. Whatever the public wanted, would be good enough for them!
Enter James Hand
Among the huddled masses thrilled to be asked to submit a name, was a former PR professional who had worked for the BBC, by the name of James Hand. Mr. Hand, in a classic, droll and very British manner, submitted the most absurd name he could conjure: Boaty McBoatface. The social media, being what it is, pushed Boaty McBoatface in a viral feeding frenzy, just because it was a hilariously stupid name.
Fast forward: Boaty McBoatface is now plying the Seven Seas! Mr. Hand, for his part, actually apologized on social media for suggesting the name. He, apparently, didn’t think anyone would seriously vote for it, and the NERC website keeps crashing because everyone is looking for an image of the ship! Some are putting a spin on it all saying that the absurd name has caused more of an awareness of NERC, and I suppose that is true, but it is terribly difficult to measure that awareness. The silliness of Boaty McBoatface isn’t really the very funny name, but the agency’s belief in the inherent power of the internet, and the public who use it.
In the past several months, I have written about numerous cases of unethical fraud involving fictitious websites and social media platforms promoting and involving real estate investment, charities, investment advisors, health claims and the like.
We tend to put a great deal of faith in the internet but much more than that, I am afraid we also tend to abdicate common sense and wisdom into believing the public does know best and opinion polls are always to be taken for face value.
I recall a social media example of a few months back where the social media got solidly behind a woman claiming to have recurring cancer. The scam lasted for year after year, for more than 10 years, as she went in and out of “remission” and “chemotherapy.” Each time the social media would be pumped and primed and ramped-up to give her more or donate more for cancer research. She never had cancer and no one ever wondered how the cycle could keep perpetuating. There was an investment advisory firm in Miami that made big promises to wealthy investors in the Dominican Republic. Its website was very impressive, but it was a scam.
The NERC put on blinders when they decided that whatever winning idea the public came up with in the naming poll, would be the name that they would use.
The Age We Live In
We live in a time of celebrity, Reality TV, an explosion of social media, YouTube videos, thousands of online polls and often, disconnection rather than connection. We place a lot of faith in devices and image and not enough, I am afraid in people.
It isn’t that Boaty McBoatface is the world’s biggest tragedy, it isn’t! However, someone at NERC should have stepped up and said, “We’ll consider public input on the name, but we will ultimately decide on the most appropriate.”
Someone needed to be an adult. Someone needed to connect to the reality of the situation. For now, Boaty McBoatface will be the face of environmental research!
