A Better Course

"Instead of giving away product samples, ice cream and cotton candy were given out. The stick carrying the ice cream and cotton candy carries a hidden message. Once consumers are done the message printed on the tip of the stick shaped like a toothbrush reveals “Don’t Forget” with the Colgate logo. This simple message effectively reminded consumers to brush their teeth." — maybe effective, but a toothpaste company giving away sweets? There is some tension, here, between being "part of the problem" and "part of the solution"

Under the plan, electricity and gas bills would show "what a typical house in your street is spending" Mr Cameron said it originated in a piece of sociological theory called "positive social norms", which indicated that people often changed their behaviour by copying their neighbours. — surely this would just make everyone's bills closer to the mean, rather than encouraging each household to drive the mean down?