What do you do if Paul McCartney steals your thunder?

What do you do if you’ve spent over a year planning a campaign, you’ve got the web site, the supporters, the content – everything is in place and you’re ready to launch, and then 2 weeks before D Day Paul McCartney appears on TV with a carbon copy of your campaign?

That’s exactly what has happened to me!

I’ve been planning the “Meat Free Days” campaign for the last 12 months and was ready to launch on 1st July. The aim of the campaign is to encourage Londoners to have one meat free day a week as a way of reducing their carbon footprint and contributing to a more sustainable city.

But on Monday 15th June Paul McCartney launched his Meat Free Mondays campaign – with exactly the same aim:

It’s one of those weird situations where you are both pleased and fed up at the same time. I am thrilled that someone with the profile of Sir Paul is supporting the idea of having a meat free day, as the more people that pledge to eat a little less meat each week the better. On the other hand I can’t help but feel a bit deflated that a year’s worth a work has to be binned and someone else got there before me!

I had put the campaign together as part of my role as a London Leader in Sustainability. All London Leaders are appointed by the Sustainable Development Commission and approved by the Mayor’s Office. The aim is to give sustainability a human face and inspire people to take action in their own lives.

At the end of the day I want to see more people choosing meat free meals so I can’t be angry that Sir Paul had the same idea – we’re both striving for the same goal. I certainly support the campaign and we’ll be featuring more meat free ideas on Passion for the Planet in the coming months.

The question still remains though – what do I do next, now that Paul McCartney has stolen my thunder?!?