Yup. Last year 791 people died from accidents involving defective toasters. Not to mention the over 600 chair related deaths, and over 300 involving kites while only 4 people are known to have died from shark attacks. The Save Our Seas Foundation is a group working to change public perception of sharks. Their new PSA series, Rethinking the Shark, replicates the beach scene from Jaws with a toaster in the place of the shark in the water.It contrasts the death tolls of various harmless household items with those of sharks…with shocking (and hilarious, in a somewhat non PC way) results.

The making of Jaws resulted in a wave of shark-panic. Sure we may have been wary of sharp toothed sea creatures before, and with good instinctual reason, but it was Spielberg’s film which focused some of that more general fear on the shark. Shark hunting has risen astronomically since the films making. This is just one among many examples of the extreme effects of pop culture and media on social trends,one which has in the past been overlooked. Playing on the human propensity for fear and paranoia has been a favourite tactic of the media for decades. What I appreciate about the approach of Save Our Seas fondation is that it provides factual information and frames it in such a way that people can choose to laugh at themselves for having bought in to the media hype about sharks.There’s no implied guilt or pointing of fingers. It’s a simple, effective and humorous counter-use of the same medium (film) to have caused so much shark paranoia in the first place. It’s interesting to consider all the other issues this type of tactic could apply to.

The “Rethinking the Shark” PSA also won last years Wildscreen Film Festival Award for best campaign. To watch the afforementioned Rethinking the Shark PSA, follow this link.