Who is the dimwit who came up with this name for a facebook group: “Invite Your Friends to Make Genocide History in 2007”? I can’t help but snigger every time I see it because I think that you’re being invited to be a part of a genocide. Not that genocide is funny, but it does not really make sense to have a group in favor of genocide. Now, I know that this group is not pro-genocide, but “making genocide history” sounds like you’re trying to break the world record for genocide.

Does anyone else think this group name is ridiculous, or am I just crazy? You can call me crazy, but only if you looked at the title above, “Genocide Marketing,” and immediately thought that it must refer to “Anti-Genocide Marketing.” If the title made you pause and think “what?” for even a millisecond, then you know what my reaction to that facebook group is like.

And now I realize that it’s to make genocide gone, but that seems rather dubious given human nature and their focus only on Darfur. Sometimes, a genocide is a civil war in which one side is winning really badly. But I’d like to see how anyone plans on ending genocide when they’re not intent on military intervention.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that words matter and marketing matters. Everyone who has successfully agitated for change has understood that.