How to Save the World's Ugly Animals

Guest: Diogo Verissimo, Conversation Research Fellow, Johns Hopkins University When you donate to the World Wildlife Fund, you can get a tote bag with an unbelievably cute and cuddly Giant panda on it. You can even get a stuffed Panda to cuddle. Would you be as keen to donate if that tote had a blobfish on it? I mean, the gelatinous pink blobby fish with a big nose and grumpy frown is so ugly I dare you to look at a picture of it and not cringe.  But the blobfish is endangered, just like the Giant panda. Ugly creatures deserve saving, too, right? But how to get people to donate for them is the question. Conservation research fellow Diogo Verissimo at Johns Hopkins University is convinced the answer is marketing. Maybe the blobfish or the purple frog – seriously, look that one up, it’s hideous – just need some spiffy spin to get donors in their corner.