WHERE DO THEY GET ALL THOSE FANCY BANNERS FROM?

Does the unfurling of a banner work as an effective way to get people talking? Is it newsworthy? If you look at Greenpeace's track record, one can argue that it certainly does.

Photo from msnb.com 

There are countless examples of Greenpeace's work around the world. The vast majority of the time, environmental activists climb, or repel, off of buildings to display large banners with a political message.

Take for example one of Greenpeace's PR stunts, when members climbed onto two buildings on Parliament Hill to display two large banners protesting Canada's inaction on climate change, as well as protesting Alberta's oilsands, in December, 2009 ahead of a United Nations conference on climate change.

Photo from thestar.com

The story instantly drew media coverage because, as was reported by the National Post, among others, it was the "biggest security breach in years and raised questions about how to keep Parliament Hill a people's place while barring those who could seek to do harm."   

The stunt certainly fit the bill as a newsworthy story. The stunt was timely as it preceded a United Nations conference. It was a national news story that had great impact, as it was incredibly unexpected, and the security breach was unprecedented. 

If anything, this pseudo-event was very effective in that it got people talking about it all over Canada.