The Tiny House Movement Creative Campaign for Conscious Consumerism: A Social Movement Campaign

Molly McCall - Summer 2015

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Introduction

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revealed

devastating facts about the “irreversible impact” of human-caused climate change. While 1

many Americans rely on policymakers to take action, others are taking matters into their own

hands. The Tiny House Movement, which has been around for decades, recently resurfaced in

hopes of addressing the economic, political and environmental issues plaguing the American

public.

Currently, the typical American home is around 2,600 square feet and homeowners are

paying the price for that space. In fact, a quarter of all working-class families spend half of 2

their income on rent. The median housing costs of working renters rose 6 percent between

2008 and 2011 while their median incomes fell more than 3 percent. To put it into perspective, 3

the amount of income dedicated to buying a house equates to 15 years of working over a

Elizabeth Shogren, “5 Key Takeaways From the Latest Climate Change Report,” http://1

news.nationalgeographic.com (Nov. 2, 2014)

Ryan Mitchell, “What Is The Tiny House Movement?” http://thetinylife.com 2

Constantine Von Hoffman, “More Working-Class Families Spend Half of Income on Rent http://3

www.cbsnews.com (May, 8, 2013)

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lifetime. And since 76 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, that leaves little 4

savings protection in a sudden loss of a job or an unexpected emergency. Additionally, the 5

median debt load rose nearly 40 percent from 2000 to 2011 with an average debt of $70,000.

Seniors now have the biggest percentage of debt and housing debt is the main cause. 6

The History

The Tiny House Movement is a social movement that involves the downsizing of the

space in which one lives. The roots can be traced back more than 100 years to the Progressive

Era when post-Civil War industrialization caused many people to leave cities for a more simple

life in the country. There are fluctuations in housing size and style throughout the 20th century

as Americans faced the Great Depression and two world wars. In 1900, the average house was

less than 1,000 square feet and by 1960 the average house had grown to about 1,200 square

feet. The movement has resurfaced and is more popular than ever after the 2008 recession and 7

alarming climate change statistics.

By The Numbers

The typical small or tiny house is 100-400 square feet, averaging 186 square feet. If the current

home is around 2,600 square feet, that adds up to nearly 14 tiny houses. Tiny House people are

less likely to have a mortgage, more likely to own their home, have more savings in the bank,

Mitchell, http://thetinylife.com4

Angela Johnson, “76% of Americans Are Living Paycheck-to-Paycheck http://money.cnn.com (June, 24, 5

2013)

Tim Mullaney, “More Americans Debt-Free, but the Rest Owe More” http://www.usatoday.com (Mar. 21, 2013)6

“A Short History of the Small House Movement” http://www.smallhouseliving.org7

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less credit card debt and a higher per capita income than the average American. Tiny house

people are twice as likely to have a master’s degree. More women own tiny houses than men

and about two out of five are over the age of 50, with an even divide among people under 30 up

to the age of 50. The average cost of a standard-sized house is approximately $272,000 while

the average cost for a tiny house is $23,000.

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Key Actors

One pioneer of the modern Tiny House Movement is Sarah Susanka, an architect whose

1998 book “The Not So Big House: A Blueprint For the Way We Really Live” promotes quality

over quantity. She is now the author of nine books that advocate for a change in the way we

live “by fully inhabiting each moment of our lives…” Another prominent architect in the 8

movement is Marianne Cusato. She is known for her design of Katrina Cottages, which are

smaller building plans created as a housing recovery solution after Hurricane Katrina. However,

Jay Schafer, owner of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Co. and an influential member of the Small

House Society, is now the poster child for the Tiny House Movement. He fell in love with

drawing small housing designs when he was teaching at the University of Iowa almost 20 years

ago. Now he designs and builds them for a living. He began his journey in a 96 square foot

trailer, which he later sold and downsized to 70 square feet. He believes there are many

reasons why the Tiny House Movement is not for everyone.

“About Sarah Susanka” http://www.notsobighouse.com8

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The phrase “bigger is better” is common in our society and it’s hard for Americans to

give that mentality up for a house no bigger than, say, your bathroom. Not only that, building

codes across the nation require a minimum-size that prohibits the building of very small

houses. “Some associations and towns maintain this high standard in order to maintain high

property values---as well as keep out the affordable-housing riffraff.” Tiny House owners 9

avoid these ordinances by building their home on wheels. Schafer has used many tactics to get

around the law: parking on a friend’s farm outside city limits, buying a house and parking in the

back while renting out the main house and even finding a stranger to let him park on their land.

To some it just isn’t worth it, but to others it’s a lifestyle.

Philosophy

The Tiny House Movement is a community of people dedicated to similar goals. The

Tiny House Alliance is one official group of the movement guided by principles, a code of

ethics and a list of members who are dedicated to the idea that tiny houses “are proactive steps

towards simplicity, flexibility, financial responsibility, community, sustainability and

freedom.” There is an American Tiny House Association, which offers membership and 10

includes a number of directors and officers. They share many of the same ideas as the alliance

including simplicity, sustainability and community. In fact, these norms are shared across

many organizations, blogs and individual testimonials. Their mission is “to promote the tiny

house as a viable, formally acceptable dwelling option for a wide variety of people.” 11

Carol Lloyd, “Small Houses Challenge Our Notions of Need as Well as Minimum-Size Standards” http://9

www.sfgate.com (Apr. 27, 2007)

Elaine Walker, “Tiny House Alliance” http://www.tinyhousecommunity.com/alliance.htm 10

Home” http://americantinyhouseassociation.org11

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Adbusters & Social Movement Campaigns

A social movement campaign addresses current social issues plaguing society

and usually achieves this goal by proving a point through satirical advertisements. Adbuster,

the Canadian-based, pro-environmental and anti-consumerist magazine, uses spoof ads to shine

a light on American consumerism and corporate corruption and its damaging effects on the

environment and morality of society. Adbusters describes itself as "a global network of artists,

activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the

new social activist movement of the information age.” Adbusters publishes its advertising-12

free activist magazine to an international circulation of 40,000 readers. I will use Adjusters 13

campaigns as inspiration for my Tiny House Movement campaign.

"About Adbusters." Adbusters Media Foundation.12

May, Kevin (11 September 2003). "Adbusters: Tackling Globalization with Ad Subversion".13

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The Buyolocial Urge

Adbusters’ “Consumption Will Fill the Void” campaign is the one I focus on to

drive my campaign. It is a part of their larger social movement campaign, “The Buyological

Urge,” which mocks the obsession of consumerism by flipping the typical narrative and getting

down to its real effects on American society. One example is “Buy Nothing Day” which is

contrary to typical consumer holidays like Black Friday. It shows the absurdity of promoting a

day where Americans go out in droves to find the best deals on things that will most likely end

up in a closet taking up space with the rest of their purchases from previous sales. Another

message that is relevant to my research is “The More You Consume, The Less You Live.” This

satire is relevant to the Tiny House Movement’s aim at limiting consumption in order to truly

live life in a simplified, more meaningful manner. 14

https://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd14

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Peter Menzel’s Material World

Menzel’s work, Material World: A Global Family Portrait, is another source of

inspiration I drew on when developing my creative campaign. He, along with 15 other

photographers, traveled to 30 different nations around the world and lived with “statistically

average” families for one week. At the end of the week, photographers worked with families to

move all of their belongings outside of their homes, “vividly portraying the look and feel of the

human condition everywhere on Earth.” Their work, not surprisingly, showed the stark

difference in material goods between Western families and families in struggling parts of the

world. Below is the contrast between a family in California (left) and a family in Mali, Africa

(right). 15

http://menzelphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery-collection/Material-World-A-Global-Family-Portrait-by-Country/15

C0000d0DI3dBy4mQ

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Creative Objectives

1. Increase awareness of the Tiny House Movement in general• More specifically, targeting millennials

2. Mock American’s absurd cultural obsession with material goods and stereotypical gender roles through spoof ads and as a result, expose this norm’s detrimental impact on the environment and happiness, generating motivation to take real action

3. Show that downsizing is a wise, affordable investment attainable for college graduates and young professionals with both environmental and economic impacts

Key Research Insights

The majority of Americans are not willing to sacrifice their more comfortable lifestyle

that would make the most impact on reducing their footprints, like drastically downsizing their

home and reducing electricity and water usage. Douglas Holt, CEO of the Cultural Strategy

Group, argues that the sustainable economy movement has been targeting this group and that’s

why there have not been drastic results. The sustainable economy movement appeals to upper-

middle class Americans, which Holt refers to as bourgeois bohemians or bobos. This group of

Americans makes up a small portion of the population (about 8 percent) and only “embrace

sustainable economy superficially, as consumption symbolism.” “…They [bobos] imbibe 16

sustainable bohemia as consumer myth—an idealized narrative that one aspires to because its

ideology is appealing, though it is ‘lived’ only through occasional consumer rituals rather than

embraced comprehensively.” In other words, the movement is just another reason for these 17

Douglas B. Holt, Why the Sustainable Economy Movement Hasn’t Scaled (New Haven: Yale University Press, 16

2014), 205

Holt, Why the Sustainable Economy Movement Hasn’t Scaled, 21117

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wealthier Americans to flaunt their idealized identity. For example, carrying a Whole Foods bag

around does not mean you are living a sustainable lifestyle, but you are giving that impression

to society to make yourself appear that way. Rather than targeting this movement towards

bobos, Holt argues that we should target it to the majority of Americans, which he calls Main

Streeters. However, I still find this group is too focused on making ends meet. They are already

invested and set in their ways that they are not willing to uproot their current lives for a more

complicated style of living.

SWOT Analysis

Strenghts Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

Financial freedom (no mortgage, less credit card debt and bill payments)

Unrealistic downsizing for big families

Create a conscious consumer community

American Dream mentality of “bigger is better”

Environmentally friendly

Requires serious lifestyle change that is hard for Americans to give up

New housing market Consumerism

Simplifying lifestyle (reduction of consumer goods brings the intangible benefits of life to the forefront)

Expensive investment that appears unaffordable to the average American

Addressing environmental issues by reducing carbon footprint

Climate change critics downplaying effects

A community of like-minded individuals

Mobile lifestyle in a society where families want to put down roots

Large and diverse target audience creates a market

Dominant housing market with bigger homes that offer a more comfortable lifestyle

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Target Consumers

Therefore, I am targeting my campaign at college students, recent college graduates and

young professionals, a large portion of the millennial generation, ages 22-28. Bobos and Main

Streeters are already fixed in their current lifestyles and are either not comfortable giving that

up or too busy focusing on their everyday economic situation to make a dramatic change. By

targeting a younger demographic, I am catching them before they get trapped in the “keeping

up with the Jones’” lifestyle. These target consumers are at a crossroad in life. They are

beginning to think about or are planning to invest in a home; therefore, by targeting the Tiny

House Movement at them, I am suggesting an alternative lifestyle that is feasible before they

get entangled in the vicious consumption cycle. This age group is invested in both the

environmental and economic attributes of the Tiny House Movement and therefore make the

perfect consumers to target.

Millennials

Millennials are the largest generation in the United States, making up 1/3 of the U.S.

population in 2013. They are also the most diverse and educated generation to date with 61

percent having attended college. They grew up in difficult economic times, which has shaped

their consumption and lifestyle habits. Technology shaped their lives as they grew up with

access to information at their fingertips. Millennials value community, family and creativity.

They worry about their future and making the world a better place for their children.

Additionally, more millennials rely on loans to pay for post-secondary education. Total

outstanding student debt surpassed $1 trillion by the end of the second quarter of 2014.

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Millennials are more likely to delay marriage and family formation and are less likely to be

homeowners. Millennials are burdened with student loan debt, are fiscally conservative and

value community and making the world a better place for the next generation. These traits

make them the ideal candidates for the tiny house movement. 18

Positioning Strategy

Recent college graduates and young professionals are strapped with crippling student

debt loans and are forced to make important decisions after graduation. Live at home with mom

and dad (ugh)? Am I ready to buy a house (probably not)? Am I going to rent an apartment?

The answer is most likely the latter. But with rental prices skyrocketing in most major cities, a

majority of their first job’s salary will go towards putting a roof over their head. Therefore, I 19

am going to position a tiny house as an alternative to escape the cycle of rent while also being

free from mom and a mortgage. As a millennial, I appreciate humor and sarcasm and

understand the trouble future generations face if Americans continue our current lifestyle of

consumption. However, a social movement campaign can’t just be sarcastic demeaning. It has

to have a lesson. A moral. Like old fairytales Millennials grew up with. Millennials like to be

unique, while also being alike in a community, therefore the tiny house movement will be their

edgy alternative. They are a part of a unique community that cares about creativity, thriftiness

and the protection of the environment. I will create this alternative by mocking American’s

gluttonous obsession with material goods through fairytale stories Millennials grew up with.

Each tale turned Disney movie that represents a part of American culture that can be solved by

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/millennials_report.pdf18

http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurengensler/2015/02/24/rising-rent-smaller-cities/19

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living in a tiny house. Additionally, Millennials don’t like to be told what to do. They like to

make their own decisions and feel in control of their future. The strategy to use mockery will

be persuasive in that the target audience is in on the joke and understands that they have the

capacity to be the difference…to live Happily Ever Tiny.

Important Product Attributes

❖ Building a tiny house, or downsizing in general, is economically affordable because it typically does not require one to lock into a 30-year mortgage, and the lack of storage requires members to cut back on the purchase of other material goods which reduces credit card spending

❖ The Tiny House Movement is environmentally friendly—members who downsize are forced to reduce their electric and water use, which in turn reduces their carbon footprint.

❖ The movement, which has recently gained traction, has actually been around for decades. There are established, official groups for the movement guided by principles, a code of ethics and a list of members who are dedicated to the philosophy of the movement. Reliable resources provide members a helping hand to turn to for guidance and a community to call their own.

Customer Benefits

❖ Economic stability and freedom❖ Sense of community❖ Simplicity of lifestyle❖ Connection to family, environment and surroundings over material goods

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Creative Plan

Campaign Directives

❖  Create messages that appeal and resonate with Millennials, mainly recent college

grads and young professionals (the main target audience) by mocking American values and the negative impacts they’ve produced through plot twists on famous fairytales.

❖  Improve and increase awareness of the Tiny House Movement with links to relevant websites and sources.

Campaign Overview: A Tiny Tale

Each of the scenarios laid out in my creative social movement campaign will feature a

page out of “The Tiny Tale” book, which is an environmentally friendly and socially aware plot

twist on classic fairytales. Rather than “Once Upon a Time,” it’s “Once Upon a Tiny,” where

our beloved characters grew up in a tiny house, represent a value of the movement and expose

the corrupt and unethical values of current American society that the Tiny House Movement

can solve. In the end, these characters end “Tiny Ever After,” based on the famous phrase we

all know, “Happily Ever After.” Therefore, “Tiny Ever After” implies that they are happier this

way rather than the way it ended originally. Millennials will react positively to these messages

because they bring back a sense of nostalgia that makes them miss when they were innocent

and didn’t give in to what society told them to do. While they generally have positive

experiences with these fairytales, once they grew up and realized what these movies and

messages were telling them (look the part, find a soulmate, have a family, buy material goods

and live happily ever after), they were probably annoyed. Now while these Millennials still

appreciate their childhood, they question the messages they were bombarded with. This

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campaign will twist the original messages to represent the values they now share as a

generation (community, creativity, environmentally friendliness, economic stability, happiness).

Now they feel like they have an opportunity to write a future that aligns with these values—

values that the Tiny House Movement offers. There’s always a lesson behind Disney movies.

The characters learn a lesson from fairytales, just like members of the Tiny House Movement

learn a lesson by simply living: we don’t need these things to be happy. Women also don’t need

men to be happy. That is why all of my ads will also feature feminist angle. Fairytales almost

always ends with the prince saving the princess. She doesn’t know how she could live or be

happy without him. She can’t save herself. My ads will feature women from fairytales who

originally needed a man to save them, but instead are saved by the tiny house, which represents

freedom from sexist societal norms. This is strategic in that women buy tiny houses at a higher

rate than men. It also makes sense in that this generation’s men are more and more comfortable

with strong, independent women.

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Big Ideas

Rapunzel

Plot: Rapunzel is based on a German fairytale that was later assembled by the Brothers Grimm. This story follows a lonely couple who are desperate to have a child. After the husband gets caught stealing rapunzel plants from a witch’s garden for his wife, he is ordered to give his daughter to the witch when she is born. The witch names her Rapunzel after the plant her mother craved. She grows up to be the most beautiful child in the world with long golden hair. When she turns 12, the witch locks her away in a tower in the woods. When she visits her, she stands at the bottom of the tower and yells out, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so that I may climb the golden stair.” One day a prince hears her singing as he rides through the forest. They plan an escape but the witch cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and casts her off into the forest when she finds out about it. When the prince comes back for her he is greeted by the witch and discovers what she’s done. Rapunzel lives in the forest with the twins she gave birth to. The prince hears her voice singing and they are reunited and live happily ever after in his kingdom.

Twist: Rapunzel represents women in today’s society that are trapped in their current situation. She is the woman who is strapped down by a mortgage and debt. However, instead of needing a man to come set her free, the tiny house sets her free. In the tiny house, she doesn’t need her long, beautiful locks. They are worthless. That’s why I edited them out in this ad. Instead, she needs her brains and brawn—two things society tells women they don’t need. Because in her tiny house she doesn't need a man. In her tiny house she is free. Free from society’s rules, free from bills and debt and free to travel. Nothing is holding her down. She isn’t stuck in the top of the tower with no escape. This is evident by the fact she is literally grounded next to her tiny house with a look of triumph and satisfaction in her work. She now represents a liberated, independent woman.

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The Little Mermaid

Plot: The Little Mermaid is a Danish fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen. It is about a young mermaid, named Ariel in the Disney remake, who is willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince. Ariel lives with her father, the sea king, grandmother and five older sisters. When a mermaid turns 15, she is able to swim to the surface and watch the world above. Ariel’s sisters tell her stories about the world above the sea and when it is her tun to rise to the surface, she falls in love with a handsome prince from a distance. A violent storms hits and the mermaid saves the prince from drowning, then brings him to shore before she returns to the sea. She visits the Sea Witch in the dangerous area of the sea where she obtains a potion that will give her legs in exchange for her tongue. She makes her way to shore where the prince falls in love with her beauty and grace despite the fact she is mute. They get married on a wedding ship where Ariel’s heart breaks. She is unable to slay the prince in order to return to the sea and instead dissolves into foam where she becomes an ethereal earthbound spirit.

Twist: The sea in this ad represents today’s society. It is a vast pit of traditional gender norms and materialistic American values. Corruption lingers in the sea so Ariel wants to escape the mess and find happiness and love on the shore. She pops out of the ocean and instead of seeing a handsome prince, she sees a tiny house. It represents everything she longed for out of the sea that she initially found in the prince. It represents happiness in the simplicity of the tiny house. It also represents freedom from the ocean (society). She is able to move it wherever her legs can take her. Finally it represents love because that’s where she learns to love herself for who she is. It isn’t lost in the endless cycle of corruption that is the sea. She is able to breathe fresh air of freedom and independence in her tiny house on land.

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Cinderella

Plot: Cinderella is a European fairytale about a beautiful young lady, Cinderella. Her father, a wealthy widow, marries his second wife, The stepmother and her daughters force Cinderella into servitude where she works day and night without her father’s knowledge. The stepsisters and Cinderella are invited to a ball where the prince will pick his wife. When Cinderella is told she can’t attend the ball, her Fairy Godmother shows up. She transforms Cinderella from her rags into a gown and a pumpkin into a golden carriage to take her to the ball. The Fairy Godmother only had one request—that she be back before midnight when the charm wears off. Everyone at the ball is entranced by Cinderella, especially the prince. Cinderella loses track of time and left only at the final stroke of midnight. When she is running away she loses one of her glass slippers. The prince finds the slipper and invites all the women of the kingdom to come try on the slipper so he can find Cinderella. She marries the prince and they live happily ever after.

Twist: In this scenario, the Fairy Godmother transforms a pumpkin into a tiny house instead of a golden carriage. The pumpkin was originally transformed so that Cinderella could meet the prince and he could save her from her situation. However, by turning the pumpkin into a tiny house, the Fairy Godmother is allowing Cinderella to transport herself away from the evil stepmother and stepsisters. She is no longer tied down and doesn’t need a man to save her because the tiny house is her savior. And her Fairy Godmother, a woman, is helping her. This is important because it shows a woman empowering and helping another woman. Additionally, in this scenario, her tiny house requires a minimal amount of upkeep, so she is no longer cleaning a big mansion day in and day out. This opens up Cinderella’s time so she can do what she enjoys. She escapes the control of others and is in charge of her freedom.

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Snow White

Plot: Snow White is a German fairytale published in the Brothers Grimm fairytales in 1812. It is about a Queen’s daughter, Snow White, who is born after the Queen wishes for a daughter that has “skin as white and snow, has lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony.” The Queen dies after giving birth to Snow White and a year later the King marries again. This Queen is evil and vain. She has a magic mirror who reassures her that she’s the “fairest in the land.” When Snow White turns seven, the mirror now replies that Snow White is more beautiful than her. The Queen grows jealous and eventually orders a huntsman to take Snow White into the forest to be killed, however the huntsman can’t bring himself to kill her. Meanwhile Snow White wanders through the woods and discovers a cottage that belongs to Seven Dwarfs. When the dwarfs discover Snow White in their house, they pity her. They allow her to stay if she tends to the house and cooks for them. The Queen finds out Snow White is still alive and sets out to poison her. After each failed attempt, the Seven Dwarfs revive her. Finally the Queen gives her a poison apple and is unable to be revived. They place her in a glass coffin, where a prince finds her. She comes back to life and they live happily ever after.

Twist: In this scenario, Snow White represents a single mother to the Seven Dwarfs. Each dwarf has their own tiny house as does Snow White. The fact that each dwarf has their own house speaks to the success of Snow White’s parenting. Instead of being pitied by men and forced into stereotypical gender roles, she takes them under her wing and is the head of the household. She raised seven independent men on her own and didn’t need a man to help her. Even after they’ve grown up and moved out, she still doesn’t need to find comfort in a man. She spends her days gardening and reading instead of cooking and cleaning. She is free from the jealousy and envy of another woman and has embraced her situation. She isn’t fair and dainty. She is sun kissed from the free time she enjoys outdoors and is strong. Strong physically from building her tiny house and strong mentally from raising seven children on her own. She runs her life and doesn’t need a prince to save her.

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