This is no time for a nap, Superman.
Hey, there. You’re so comfortable being Clark Kent that you’re too scared to show the world your superpowers. What, are you waiting for an invitation? For the world to come to a sudden stop, for people to come crawling on their hands and knees, begging for your help? It doesn’t work like that. You need to get over yourself.
So you’re shy. You hate self-promotion. Never been one to toot your own horn, and you don’t think much of the folks that do. Yeah, we get it. You’re a real salt-of-the-earth farm boy. Understood.
But you have something that nobody else has. And the world needs you … desperately. Even more so than they realize, and by the time they wake up to the problem, it may be too late.
You see, your product is the one thing–the only thing– that can reduce carbon, purify air and water, reduce erosion, moderate temperatures. And you do it all without breaking a sweat! Your superpowers put all the other heroes to shame, yet you still shun the spotlight. Does that make you somehow more noble?
You have the answer, Superman. So what if the world could care less?
Creator’s Commentary: This was the first poster in the series, and the idea dates back several years to a meeting that the ANLA arranged at the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS) with representatives from the EPA to discuss the problem of plastic containers going to landfills. Their message to growers and pot manufacturers was basically a threat: “Fix this problem because you don’t want us to fix it for you.” At the time I was amazed that these regulators could not see any distinction between our product and, say, a can of soda or an ink-jet printer. It did not matter that the thing INSIDE the packaging was the ONLY THING known to man that actually fixes CO2, creates O2, prevents erosion, produces shade, purifies water…etc.
At that meeting I said something like, “Hey, our product is Superman. This whole plastic pot thing is like we have our cape tucked into our shorts.”
I really do believe that plants are like Superman, and that we in our industry (myself included) act like Clark Kent. We have let every other product brazenly declare their green-cred and environmental consciousness while we quietly sit by and get criticized because we use plastic pots, synthetic fertilizer and necessary pesticides. Who’s fault is that?
For this poster, I first searched for a picture of Superman with his cape tucked into his red shorts. Didn’t find one. (So I came up with the Mother Teresa analogy for that idea, which I will post soon.) I did find an interesting one from the cartoon, Challenge of the Superfriends, of Superman looking into a circus mirror (and this gave me the idea for the “Your Mirror is a Liar” poster).
The photo I used is stolen directly from the poster for the film “Confessions of a Superhero” by Matt Ogens, which is a quirky look at self-delusion exhibited by people dressing up as super heroes on Hollywood Blvd.
In my opinion, the best part of this image is the wallpaper. Wallflower indeed! Get off the couch!
~A