Sean and the Woodland trust

[patch]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gttZAuQpS4s

[lighty]

Nice video - excellent advert for the Woodland Trust.  Thank you for posting the link, patch.

Have to wonder if Sean has been more 'personally involved' in tree planting 'back home in Sheffield' than the one he dug the hole for outside the hospital?  You would think the Trust would have been all over his involvement, if so, seeing as how him wielding a spade would make for such good press.

I understand why they do it, but it always makes me a little uncomfortable to hear celebs stretching the truth until it screams to fit whatever the agenda happens to be.  I don't doubt he's a member of the Trust - and I'm sure he's planted a few trees (at least in his garden) . . . but that last bit just didn't have the ring of truth for me.

[Blue Jay]

Well, of course we know how it works, but think of the good that can be done if he's doing ads like that. In the end the result is what's really important, and a little white lie, well, I really don't have too much trouble with that.

[lighty]

Well, of course we know how it works, but think of the good that can be done if he's doing ads like that. In the end the result is what's really important, and a little white lie, well, I really don't have too much trouble with that.

I don't disagree - it is a white lie.  But not a necessary one and that's what makes me uncomfortable.  No matter - it's a great advert; really well done and I'm sure it will have a good result.

[moonflower]

Replenishing the forests is an extremely important issue.  Sean may be embellishing his personal role in tree planting, but if he is raising awareness of the issue and getting good results from the ad campaign, then I think that he can be excused for stretching the truth a bit.  It would be great if he was really hands on and was out there planting trees as often as possible, but I doubt that is the case.

[patch]

He could let a wood grow by talking to the trees.

[lighty]

Hang on, I need to get my shield - you gals are certainly busy on the defense today!   

I AGREE with you that he's doing a good thing.

I just don't think he needed to add that last bit about his 'personal' experience planting trees in Sheffield.  His support and membership is enough - and if he hadn't said it, people in Sheffield who remember him planting the tree for the hospital might be saying,

"Did you hear that advert for the Woodland Trust?  Sean Bean narrates . . . remember when he planted that tree in front of the hospital after his father was ill?  Great bloke, our Seany!"

But because he made it sound as if he's planted a lot of trees, if someone recalls the hospital tree planting, they are just as likely to say

"Did you hear that advert for the Woodland Trust?  That Bean is narrating again.  He's full of himself innit he?  Plants one bloody tree on a hospital lawn and tries to make out like he's plantin' forests all over town!"

That's what people DO - whether we like to admit it or not.

Is it a big deal?  No, not in this instance.  It's cumulative though, so it makes me uncomfortable.  That's all.

  

[beanyfan]

Not sure where this is meant to be shown -if anywhere.  I like trees but it;s just nice to listen to a chunk of voice!
Maybe he was more involved with  planting trees back 'ome in Sheffield than the one hospital one we know about?


Just found this over on TMB from an interview when he unveiled the statue of Robin Hood with Brian Blessed

"Sheffield son Sean, aged 47, exclusively revealed his dream role when he joined Mexborough-born Brian Blessed, 70, to unveil a new giant bronze statue of the legendary outlaw at Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield.
And he played the role for real when he exclusively told The Star he is taking from the rich to give to the poor - by donating his £15,000 appearance fee to help transform old recreation fields into a community park in the Sheffield suburb where he grew up, Handsworth.
The Sharpe and Lord of The Rings star has already helped to attract £400,000 of investment for the Handsworth Community Forum project.
It will build a multi-sports area, including football pitches and a bowling green, a kids' play area, a teenage youth zone, a bicycle track and woodland in Sheffield.
"It's great to be involved at the airport. But I'm also giving my fee to buy new trees for the project in Handsworth. I'm keen to help the wildlife and environment. It's a great project," said Sean, whose fee was met by the airport and Yorkshire Forward"

[Beanie006]

How do we know how many trees he has planted in Sheffield? Sean does a lot of things without the press around, he could be out planting trees everyday and we would never know. Doesn't he own property there, maybe he has a garden and has planted many trees.

I will give anyone a break (except my awful Senator from KY) so I am willing to accept Sean at his word.

It is a lovely, inspiring ad, so much better than what we get in the states.

[lighty]

Many pardons . . .

He has undoubtedly planted thousands of trees around Sheffield - probably bought the terrace house next door to his in Dore, had it razed to the ground and used the space to plant even more trees.

How could I ever doubt???

[beanyfan]

I imagine he would find it more personally useful to plant hops!

[moonflower]

I didn't mean for you to have to get out your shield, lighty, and you don't need to beg my pardon.    I certainly see your point, and of course the truth is best, but we don't know in fact how many trees Sean has planted.  I doubt that he has planted a lot, but who knows?  Even planting one tree is beneficial.   If anyone is swayed by his wonderful voice in that advertisement, and supports the effort either monetarily or by planting trees themself, then I don't mind if he is not being entirely truthful.  Maybe the ad will make him realize that he needs to actually do what he says he has done, then he will go out and plant a forest full of trees.  I'd be glad to bring him a cold beverage after his hard labor.   

[lighty]

I imagine he would find it more personally useful to plant hops!

I think that's why he bought an interest in that German brewing company . . . 
His interest in nature and gardening and plant life, I mean.  Only that.

I'm sure he is very knowledgeable about the environmental benefits of growing hops and wheat and barley.  Amazing that he has time to act, given all the time he spends growing things!

[Sable899]

I'm beginning to wonder if he's not hanging around with Prince Charles lately, considering how "Green" he's gotten.  Also, there have been tidbits turn up on Twitter and Facebook and other places that indicate that Sean is much more actively involved in the Handsworth Community improvement project that he donated his Robin Hood fee to.  I've also heard from an eyewitness that there is a great a amount of urban renewal going on in Sheffield at present.  Now, whether or not he has actually gotten dirt on his hand planting trees is anyone's guess.  Personally, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt since he does have a considerable reputation as a gardener.  But that's just my own personal opinion and as we all know, opinions are like arseholes, we all have one.

[lighty]

I'm beginning to wonder if he's not hanging around with Prince Charles lately, considering how "Green" he's gotten.  Also, there have been tidbits turn up on Twitter and Facebook and other places that indicate that Sean is much more actively involved in the Handsworth Community improvement project that he donated his Robin Hood fee to.  I've also heard from an eyewitness that there is a great a amount of urban renewal going on in Sheffield at present.  Now, whether or not he has actually gotten dirt on his hand planting trees is anyone's guess.  Personally, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt since he does have a considerable reputation as a gardener.  But that's just my own personal opinion and as we all know, opinions are like arseholes, we all have one.

Honestly, why does Sean have a reputation as a gardener, anyway?  Because he's mentioned planting some trees (silver birch as I recall) some shrubs (don't know what kind) and some veg in his garden?  Oh - and a window box for flowers.  And when he was a kid, his neighbour taught him some things and got him interested in digging in the dirt.  If your Twitter and Facebook comments suggest more than that, please share . . .

I suspect he enjoys pottering around in his green space, and he's probably a fairly experienced amateur - but the reputation that he has as some sort of big-time gardening fanatic is a creation of a few 'soundbites' in various interviews over a number of years . . . and most of them are repeats of previous interviews.  Essentially, it's more a creation of his fan base than anything else.  There's nothing wrong with that - it's what fans are wont to do - but that's all it is.

We build things all out of proportion to reality . . . he also has related that he had piano lessons as a kid; we know from an interview that he once played 'Fur Elise' during a rehearsal break of the Scottish play and we've seen him tinkle the ivories for a few minutes in a couple of films.  He probably has a piano in his lounge and he has also commented that he likes (or liked at the time he said it) 'regular' musical forms like baroque (or Wagner, one assumes for listening).  From that, can we leap to the conclusion that he spends hours working on the tricky fingering of the Well-Tempered Clavier . . . and does any of that make him a brilliant musician?

Does he take care of his garden?  I'm sure he does - based on applications, he recently had his lime topped again, so he is staying on top of his tree maintenance (either that or the pros he hires suggested he do it) - but that's part and parcel of being a home-owner and doesn't really deliver much in terms of his personal gardening - or 'green' cred.

If he hasn't planted a tree or two, I'd be surprised - but I still maintain that his phrasing in the Woodland Trust narration was disingenuous at best.  Doesn't make him a bad person . . . but it doesn't make him Johnny Appleseed, either.

[tinytim]

lol...I've just went through this very interesting discussion. Lighty has a point, I think. I suppose Sean is a gardener as thousands of hobby gardeners are. That's it. He might be interested in nature protection, though, like most of us are either. As long as this ad effects any succeed because of his name recognition, it's o.k. for me. Although I wouldn't call Sean a Robin Hodd of the trees.

For all of you who want to save the voice of our buisy tree planter on their mp3 player or IPods the audio file:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=O4KIRQFN
 

[ladyblue]

So...How many adds are 100% truthfull? How many adds are shown that tell the exact truth about the mercandice or services provided? There are always some small text shown a half a second, that anyone doesn't manage to see, or some side effect, or something that doesn't quite is right to everyone. So, I ask again How many adds are 100% truthfull?

I am only happy that he is a member, (I didn't know that there was so little woods in England) and if he is a member he pays money to them, and those money goes, hopefully, to new trees. He may have planted at least one tree, maybe more, but don't expect him to plant new trees every week. How many does that? I know there are people who does that, and I admire their passion for nature.

Take the add for what it is, an add for a good cause, but as all ads, it is made to look better than it is.

[Sable899]

Very good assessment, LB, and I competely agree.  We'll probably never know how many trees he's planted personally.  If the lack of press coverage at that last Woodland Trust fund raiser is anything to go by, its quite unlikely anyone is really taking notice who is planting what up in Sheffield.

[lighty]

I know I'm beating this to death with a stick (or tree branch) - and it's hardly worth it. Still.  I see a difference between an advert that makes claims about a product and minimizes or falsifies the negative aspects of the product - and an advert wherein a spokesman FOR a product makes personal claims about it that leave an impression that may or may not be accurate.

You are all correct - this won't hurt him, beyond that small risk that some in Sheffield might question his veracity - I just don't know why he felt the need to add that very last statement, when he could have as easily left it off and still been seen for what he is - a dues paying member of a very worthy cause and supportive enough of that cause to do the narration for the Trust (undoubtedly for free).

He didn't say "I make a point of planting trees on my property back home in Sheffield" or "I helped my dad/uncle/neighbour/friend/community centre plant trees on their property in Sheffield" . . . he said "I've been personally involved in planting trees back home in Sheffield".

That's not a lie and I'm not accusing him of lying - he has been personally involved - when he stuck that spade in the ground outside the hospital.  Technically true, but in the context of the narration and the advert, disingenuous.  

It's a sort of word-parsing that can come back and bite a person in the bum and there was absolutely no reason for him to say it.  I suspect the person who wrote the script asked him if he'd had any personal tree-planting experience and he told the writer the truth (and had he any serious involvement, they would have included it in the statement - it's excellent press to do so and stupid NOT to mention it).  

In the end, they added that line - not an untruth, but very much one of those vague 'I'm familiar with this work' statements, which suggests that he hasn't been planting a lot of trees in Sheffield.  

If Sean really has been spending his free time reforesting South Yorkshire I will offer public apology for thinking that his comment was stretching the truth.

[Sable899]

So how do you know that he hasn't been personally involved with the Yorkshire reforesting effort?  We never knew he was involved with Phil's Millions either until some private photos turned up on Phil's site.  Who is to say what the hell he's doing when we are thinking he's being quite boring? He did donate quite a lot of money to the cause and did a lot towards raising hundreds of thousands of pounds.  I doubt his cottage in Sheffield is simply a place to sleep off the aftereffects of a footie match.  Given his absence from public eye, he's likely staying up there quite a lot now days..  So who is to say that he didn't make an effort to participate in the activity of actually getting the trees planted.  He said he was "personally involed", but does that necessarily have to mean he put hands to spade?  Its quite possible he was merely involved in the procurement of the trees and seeing that they got planted, even if he didn't plant them himself.  I know that if I had contributed a huge chunk of money that I would want to see where it is going and not merely hand it over to some foundation functionaries.