Sony doesn't like blowing up schoolchildren in the name of 10:10 - pulls out

The new 10:10 video, written by Richard Curtis of Notting Hill fame, called "No Pressure" shows how school teachers and smarmy bosses press a little red button that blows up the people who have stated they won't do anything special to participate in 10:10.

Not everyone finds this funny. Sony called it "ill-conceived and tasteless" and pulled their financial support of the campaign at once. Sony states that while it fully supported 10:10 and its objectives, this video was released without their knowledge or involvement, and they are now disassociating Sony from the campaign.

“We also believe this video risks undermining the work of the many thousands of members of the public, schools and universities, local authorities and many businesses, of which Sony is one, who support the long-term aims of the 10:10 movement and who are actively working towards the reduction of carbon emissions
Sony believes that it had no other option than to also condemn the video in the strongest possible terms and Sony is disassociating itself from 10:10 at this time”

Another name now missing from the 1010global list of partners page is Kyocera Mita. Notably, 350.org (headed by Bill McKibben) is also no longer listed, and they have a statement on their press pages.

We respect 10:10's previous work to encourage companies, schools, and churches to voluntarily cut their carbon emissions 10%. Upon seeing the video, however, we have informed 10:10 that we can no longer remain partners on 10/10/10 or any other initiative. 350.org maintains an absolute commitment to nonviolence in word and deed.

Eugenie Harvey, Director of 10:10 UK has also released a statement:

As you may have heard, last week, 10:10 made a mistake by releasing a short film about cutting carbon which was supposed to be humorous but in the event upset a lot of people. We quickly realised that we had made a serious mistake and took it down from our website within hours.

We also issued a statement apologising but there has subsequently been quite a lot of negative comment, particularly on blogs, and understandable concern from others working hard to build support for action on climate change.

We are also sorry to our corporate sponsors, delivery partners and board members, who have been implicated in this situation despite having no involvement in the film’s production or release

I am very sorry for our mistake and want to reassure you that we will do everything in our power to ensure it does not happen again.

10:10 is a young and creative team but we will learn lessons from this. We are going to investigate what happened, review our processes and procedures, and share the results with our partners. Responsibility for this process is being taken by the 10:10 board of directors.

A mistake? What were you meant to do with this $250,000 budget film? Sit on it?

Tinfoilhat on: There will be things blowing up on 10/10/10 if you are to believe all the conspiracy theories floating about on the web. Lets hope not, shall we.