Remember this video we posted last Friday? 

Well, our interest in the Oscars paid off, and so much more.

We had said we were excited about two environmental docus - Food Inc and The Cove, and as it turned out, the Academy was excited about The Cove as well.  The stunning and controversial film that exposed the illegal practice of herding and slaughtering dolphins at a national park on Taiji Island, Japan won the best documentary feature.

And then the fun began.  Dolphin activist Ric O'Barry, a passionate advocate for dolphin protection, rushed the stage and held up a sign that said "Text DOLPHIN to 44144."  Immediately, producers cued the music and the acceptance speeches of the filmmakers prematurely ended. 

We're learning now that because of people trending the text numbers 44144 on Twitter, and just from people watching who texted to see what would happen, that the text service was on the brink of overload and collapse.

In case you were wondering what will happen if you do text, you will not be billed, but you will be signed up for an alert system where subscribers will be informed how to take action to protect the dolphins, a simple but powerful use of texting that is being promoted by Participant Film's activism site TakePart.org.  Since Sunday, subsribers have nearly doubled from 38,000 to 70,000.

 

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