The BBC Box

Summary

The video follows a shipping container on its global journey, illustrating the importance of containerization in the global economy. Starting in Scotland with a shipment of whiskey, the container travels across seas, showcasing the scale and complexity of international trade. The BBC project uses multiple platforms to engage audiences, including maps and user-generated content, to track the container's progress. The initiative highlights the global supply chain and its impact, while also showing how the global financial crisis has affected trade, with educational value for schools and public interest groups.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The script follows a shipping container on a global journey to illustrate the global economy.
• 🔍 The project is multiplatform, accessible online, on radio, and television.
• 📦 The shipping container is a symbol of globalization and international trade.
• 🥃 The first cargo followed is Scotch whiskey from Paisley to the Chinese market.
• 📈 Despite economic uncertainty, export sales are booming, as shown by the Scotch export.
• 🚢 The container's journey starts from Scotland, goes through Southampton, and heads to Shanghai.
• 🗺️ An interactive map allows the audience to track the container's progress.
• 📈 The project aims to demystify the global economy by focusing on a tangible object.
• 📊 The container's journey reflects changes in the global economy, such as currency fluctuations and shipping prices.
• 👨‍🏫 The project is educational, engaging schools and geography teachers.
• 🌐 The project sparked audience engagement, with followers creating their own content and websites.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the BBC's 'Box' project?

The main focus of the BBC's 'Box' project is to track a shipping container around the world to tell the story of the global economy in a new and exciting way.

How can the public track the progress of the BBC's 'Box'?

The public can track the progress of the BBC's 'Box' online at bbc.co.uk/slthebox or on BBC News.

What percentage of goods bought in shops arrive in containers?

90% of all the goods bought in shops arrive in containers.

What is the first cargo the 'Box' carries in the project?

The first cargo the 'Box' carries is 15,000 bottles of scotch whiskey destined for the Chinese market.

What is the significance of the container in the context of globalization and international trade?

The shipping container is central to the growth of globalization and international trade, making it easier and more efficient to transport goods around the world.

What was the first stop of the 'Box' after being loaded with scotch whiskey?

The first stop of the 'Box' after being loaded with scotch whiskey was the port of Greenock on the Clyde.

How did the BBC engage the audience with the 'Box' project?

The BBC engaged the audience through a multiplatform approach, including online, radio, and television, and encouraged user-generated content.

What was the key challenge for the BBC in terms of the online component of the 'Box' project?

The key challenge was creating an interactive map where people could find out where the 'Box' was and where it had been during its journey.

How did the public respond to the 'Box' project?

The public responded positively to the 'Box' project, with many blogs, forums, and social media platforms discussing and sharing content related to the project.

What additional content did the audience contribute to the 'Box' project?

The audience contributed by sending in pictures, creating a dedicated website, and setting up a Facebook group to discuss and follow the 'Box'.

How did the 'Box' project help in understanding the global economy?

The 'Box' project helped in understanding the global economy by providing a tangible example of international trade and by illustrating economic changes such as export growth and shipping prices.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 Journey of a Shipping Container

The script introduces a project that follows a shipping container around the world to illustrate the global economy and international trade. The container, equipped with a GPS, is tracked online and serves as a tangible example of the intangible economic concepts such as balance of payments and exchange rates. The project is designed for multiplatform engagement, including online, radio, and television. The container's journey begins with a shipment of Scotch whiskey from Scotland to China, symbolizing the British economy's reliance on export growth. The project's online component includes a map tracking the container's progress and additional content such as news stories and user-generated content.

05:02

📈 Global Economy Through a Container's Lens

This paragraph continues the narrative of the container's journey, emphasizing its role in global trade and the economic stories it encapsulates. The container's path from Scotland to Shanghai with whiskey highlights the impact of a weak pound sterling on exporters. The project has resonated with a wide audience, including schools and geography teachers, as a tool to understand current economic events. The script also mentions the creation of a model box for the BBC's web page, audience engagement through social media platforms like Flickr and Facebook, and the establishment of a dedicated website by a shipping enthusiast. The project's success is evident in the audience's active participation and the creation of additional content that expands the story beyond the BBC's original coverage.

Keywords

💡Shipping Container

A shipping container is a standardized metal box used to transport goods across the world. In the video, the shipping container symbolizes the global trade system and how it facilitates the movement of products, including everyday items like clothes and toys. The container is described as a 'humble box' that has revolutionized globalization and international trade.

💡Globalization

Globalization refers to the process by which businesses, technologies, and cultures spread across the world, integrating economies. The video highlights how shipping containers have played a central role in this by enabling mass international trade, making products from different countries available globally. It connects this concept to the journey of the shipping container and its role in international markets.

💡Global Economy

The global economy is the interconnected economic activities of countries worldwide. In the video, the BBC follows a shipping container to tell stories about the global economy, illustrating how different countries and industries are impacted by trade, currency fluctuations, and economic crises. The container's journey is used as a tangible example to explain complex economic concepts.

💡Export Sales

Export sales refer to goods produced in one country and sold to another. The video mentions the example of 15,000 bottles of Scotch whisky being prepared for shipment to China, showcasing how exports remain strong even during economic uncertainty. Export sales are crucial for the economy, especially in times of downturn in other sectors, and the shipping container is a vehicle for these exports.

💡BBC Box Project

The BBC Box Project is an initiative where the BBC tracks a single shipping container over the course of a year to explore global trade. The project uses various media platforms (TV, radio, web) to engage audiences and help them understand the complexities of international trade by following the real-life journey of the container across different countries.

💡User-Generated Content

User-generated content refers to material created by users or audience members, such as photos, videos, or social media posts. The video describes how the BBC Box Project inspired audience interaction, with people sharing their own photos of the container and creating tribute groups on platforms like Facebook. This highlights the project's success in engaging the public in storytelling.

💡Global Financial Crisis

The global financial crisis refers to the severe economic downturn that began in 2007-2008. In the video, the BBC mentions how the container's journey allows them to tell stories related to the crisis, such as falling shipping prices in Shanghai. The crisis impacted global trade and shipping, which are central themes in the story of the container.

💡Geography Teachers

Geography teachers are educators who teach about the physical and human aspects of the Earth. The video mentions that geography teachers have found the BBC Box Project useful for explaining global trade and the economy to students, as the project provides a real-world example of how goods move between countries.

💡NYK

NYK refers to Nippon Yusen Kaisha, a global shipping company that became involved in the BBC Box Project. The company’s participation illustrates the critical role of logistics companies in facilitating global trade, which is symbolized by the shipping container as it travels to multiple countries carrying different cargoes.

💡Scotch Whisky

Scotch whisky is a type of whisky produced in Scotland. In the video, it is used as an example of a product being exported to China, illustrating how goods are transported in shipping containers. The shipment of Scotch whisky highlights the importance of exports for the British economy and how global trade continues to grow even during economic uncertainty.

Highlights

Almost 90% of goods we buy, from computers to clothes, are transported in containers.

The BBC will follow a container's journey around the world for one year, allowing people to track it online.

The purpose of the project is to demonstrate how shipping containers are central to globalization and international trade.

This project provides a tangible way for audiences to understand the global economy, often considered abstract.

The journey starts with a Scotch whiskey bottling plant in Paisley, preparing 15,000 bottles for the Chinese market.

Despite uncertain times, export sales like Scotch whiskey are booming, offering positive news for the British economy.

The container's first destination is Shanghai, where the whiskey will be distributed to bars.

The online platform for this project includes a map tracking the container's journey in real-time.

The container project was widely embraced by blogs, forums, and enthusiasts who shared updates and created dedicated content.

A Flickr group was created for users to post photos of the container, with over 100 members quickly joining.

A fan even created a website, followthecontainer.com, to add extra content and videos about the project.

The project highlights the complexities of the global supply chain, as demonstrated by changes in shipping prices and export dynamics.

Schools and geography teachers are using the project to help students understand the global economy and international trade.

The container’s journey reflects the real-time effects of the global financial crisis, with shipping routes and prices constantly fluctuating.

The final stage of the box’s journey from China to the United States demonstrates the global trade cycle.

Transcripts

computers clothes even cuddly toys

almost everything we buy gets here in a

container over the next year we'll

follow this box around the world you can

track it online at

bbc.co.uk slthe boox or see it here on

BBC

News have you ever seen inside one uh up

there is the uh little

GPS in fact 90% of all the goods We Buy

in the shops arrive in containers like

these this is the box that we are going

to be following during the course of

this year as it makes its Journey on the

high seas all around the world quite an

elaborate operation why on Earth are we

doing it because very simply these boxes

have changed the world what we wanted to

do is tell the story of the global

economy in a new and exciting way in

some ways the economy can be quite

intangible balance of pay ments uh

exchange rates this was an idea that

people could latch on to that they could

see and feel and touch and what's really

fascinating about the shipping container

The Humble shipping container is it's

been Central to the growth of

globalization and international trade

and this was an idea that worked really

well for multiplatform audiences you

could use it online you could listen on

the radio you could watch it on

television and our audiences have really

enjoyed the

experience first stop a scotch whiskey

bottling plant in Paisley here a

consignment of 15,000 bottles is being

prepared for the Chinese market even in

these uncertain times for most leading

economies export sales are booming and

as the cases of scotch are lifted into

the box it's worth reflecting this is a

good news story for the British economy

which needs export growth to take up the

slack after the downturn in other

sectors then it's on to the port of

green on the Clyde and the Box awaits

its turn for loading onto the ship the

site that people were directed to off

the back broadcasts had um all the all

the elements that people would expect so

they could find out what was going on

the background to the project the news

stories that have been written off the

back of it extra video that we' recorded

also displaying any of the user

generated content that we might get as

part of it but the key challenge really

the centerpiece of the project in online

terms was the map where people could

find out where the box was and where it

had been over the course of its Journey

the box is just one part of the world

container trade story now it's on route

for Shanghai with its whiskey it'll

carry many other caros to many other

destinations before the year-long

project is

over NYK left the opportunity to be

involved in this exciting project the

container The Humble box has brought

trade in an unprecedented scale uh and

through this project we hope we can we

can bring that to life uh to the general

public through the mediums of of web

radio and TV we see we can inate the

issues the scale and the complexity of

this industry and hopefully in a format

that people can read and easily

understand all the way from greenook in

Scotland via Southampton SE canal in

Singapore the BBC box is now here inside

15,000 bottles of whiskey and they'll

soon be heading for the bars of Shanghai

we were surprised pleasantly surprised

at the scale of it fairly early on it

was obvious it was been picked up by a

lot of blogs and forums both sort of

specialist transport ones but also more

general ones where people were sort of

saying hey have you seen what the BBC is

doing what a great idea um then we

started getting pictures being sent in

the first leg of the Box's Journey took

it from Southampton up to Scotland uh

mainly by rail but also by truck and

obviously after it left Scotland by SE

so we reacted to that by setting up um a

flicker group on the that's the photo

showing website flicker where people

could post their own pictures but where

we also intended to post the best

pictures that readers sent into us a

tribute group was set up on Facebook I'm

following the BBC box which took us back

and pretty quickly got more than a 100

members and is still growing then it

even grew beyond that we had uh some

sort of Enthusiast um

apparently a shipping Enthusiast who set

up a a dedicated website called

followthe container.com where he fed off

what we were doing but added extra

content to it his own videos videos he

found on YouTube around

containerization in a way a classic

example of a great story being picked up

and the audience imagination feeding

into it and producing content elsewhere

and sort of developing the story into a

much much bigger phenomenon than we

thought it would

be I've always been interested in uh

containers shipping everything to do

with with the sea uh and I when I saw

the BBC start this this project with the

the container on the web page I thought

here's here's a wonderful opportunity to

uh to get involved and I thought it

would be so easy to create a model of

the Box um that I could offer to the BBC

um they could put on the web page people

could download it and make their own

version of the

box when the world stops spending it's

here that feels it first shanghai's Port

is one of the biggest on the planet

sending Goods to the world and taking a

few in

itself since the project launched we've

seen dramatic changes in the global

economy and the box has been an

incredible device to enable us to tell

some of those stories for instance in

Scotland we've been able to tell the

story of uh exporters benefiting

massively from a weak pound sterling uh

we've been able to tell a story on the

spot in China in Shanghai of what's

beenen happening with dramatically

falling shipping prices we're going to

be going to where this Global financial

crisis started and telling that story

and what's really heartened me is that

schools and geography teachers and all

sorts of audiences have latched on to

this project as a way to understand

what's happening in the global

economy now at this end of the assembly

line they're boxing up the finished

product ready for the first stage of its

journey by Road from here in Ningbo to

Shanghai where in a warehouse the BTC

box is waiting ready to ship these takes

from China to the United States