Plastic bags can indeed be easily mistaken for food by marine animals, such as turtles that consume jellyfish or squid. A plastic bag floating in the water and a jellyfish are very difficult to tell apart. This makes plastic bags a particularly hazardous form of litter to wildlife. Some scientists even estimate that in certain species, plastic amounts to up to 10% of the animal’s body weight!

This is not the first time such visual has been used in ads. It is actually very hard to distinguish who came up with the original design first…!

Scuba Dogs association:
“Turn this into an endanged species. Keep the beaches clean” – 2003
Source : joelapompe
Agency : McCann Erickson Guaynabo (Puerto Rico)

Surfrider Foundation – 2005
“Help us keep the ocean clean”
Source : joelapompe
Agency : Young & Rubicam (France)

]]> http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2010/04/04/ad-of-the-day-17-plastic-shopping-bag-jellyfish-ads/feed/ 1 http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2010/01/04/ad-of-the-day-16-greenpeace-energy-in-germany-and-the-deathzone-ad/ http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2010/01/04/ad-of-the-day-16-greenpeace-energy-in-germany-and-the-deathzone-ad/#comments Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:12:10 +0000 admin http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/?p=992 Over the past decades, nuclear power in Germany has been high on the political agenda, with heated discussions about whether or not the technology should be phased out. More and more arguments for a “phase-out of the phase-out” have been put forward (led by Angela Merkel) due to the recent energy disputes with Russia and the increasing prices of fossil fuels…only to clash with very active anti-nuclear activists on the ground, and with Greenpeace first.

Titled “The DeathZone”, the latest commercial campaign by Greenpeace Energy in Germany [Update on Jan. 12, 2010: I have just been contacted by one of the copywriters behind the campaign. The campaign is not actually run by Greenpeace, but was part of a project led by students of the Miami Ad School Europe, in Germany] aims at raising public awareness around the issues of aging nuclear reactors and the real dangers and safety threats associated to it, by referring to the Tchernobyl disaster and the remaining 32km2 exclusion zone (here called DeathZone) around the disaster site.

In addition to the video below, the DeathZone campaign includes a series of billboards, a balloon release event, and a virtual line to be drawn through the city of Hamburg at a radius of 32km2 as a symbolic representation of the DeathZone.

[ Update on Jan. 12, 2010: A more up-to-date and 'official' video is available here, with a clear disclaimer at the end notifying that this film is the work of students of Miami Ad School Europe.]

All in all, a campaign that could very well be a missed opportunity for Greenpeace Energy to further its goals and generate effective engagement around an important and rather urgent issue. I explain:

• The message is flawed. Scare tactics are used. The video and the billboards feed the public with apocalyptic images of nuclear disasters, of doom and despair … similar to any ‘end of the world’ movie you can think about. The title of the campaign says it all: DeathZone.

• What about the future? In the video, it says that “60% of Germans oppose the change in the law (i.e. canceling the “nuclear phase-out option”), but the vast majority still uses nuclear power”. Here is a big challenge…but Greenpeace totally fails to offer any solution or viable alternative. In a pure dramatic style, the campaign maximizes the problem and minimizes the solution (which is actually non-existent).

• Without any positive messages or any forward looking offer, this campaign might very well leave the public helpless/hopeless. And will unlikely generate behavior change or even enhance support for the anti-nuclear cause, whether from citizens/general public … or politicians.

After 16 ads of the day…I (sadly) feel like I am repeating myself, am I ? 

Credits: Advertising Agency: Miami Ad School Europe // Art Director: Zoe Sys Vogelius // Copywriters: Duncan Munge, Amadeus Henhapl

Source: Green Advertising Blog

Via a very smart use of optical illusion, the black-and-white ads show images formed out of lots of small pandas…but when taking a closer look… it then becomes clear that WWF is doing much more than “saving the panda” types of initiatives.

• Antelope Ad

[Headline] Saving pandas is not our only mission.
[Body Copy] The combined efforts of WWF and our partners have sparked the recovery of the Tibetan Antelope Population.
Take a closer look at what we do and where you can make a difference. www.wwfchina.org

• Forest Ad

[Headline] Saving pandas is not our only mission.
[Body Copy] Over 10 million hectares of forests have been protected through our forest certification and sustainable forest management programs.
Take a closer look at what we do and where you can make a difference. www.wwfchina.org

• Water Ad

[Headline]Saving pandas is not our only mission.
[Body Copy] WWF and our partners have facilitated the reconnection of 17 lakes to the Yangtze River, infusing new life to its fragile freshwater ecosystem.
Take a closer look at what we do and where you can make a difference. www.wwfchina.org

A great advert series – as a proof of its success, one year later the ads are still running here and there!

Credits: Advertiser: WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) // Agency: BBH China / Creative Director: Johnny Tan // Head of Copy: Leo Zhang // Senior Art Director: Yinbo Ma // Senior copywriters: Carol Ong, Leo Zhang // Agency Producer: Ken Wang // Illustrator: Alt Design // Market: China // Accounts Director: Jasmine Huang // Accounts Manager: Joyce Hong // Published: June 2008.

Since its creation in 2001, Swiss-based not-for-profit organisation Act Responsible – Advertising Community Together whose goal is to “federate, promote and inspire responsible communication on sustainability, equitable development and social responsibility” – has been putting together a unique database of responsible ads (press, outdoors, TV, cinema, interactive) featuring the best work for Charities, Public service and Commercial ads focusing on environmental and social issues.

In order to raise awareness about climate change in the context of COP15, Act Responsible has created virtual exhibition showcasing a selection of the best ads created for NGOs & Institutions.

Beyond the few that were recycling the not-so effective ‘polar bears’ theme, I rediscovered / discovered some ads (see below) that are particularly creative, targeted or impactful in raising awareness / enacting positive change.

Some very cool stuff. For more, click here!

This ad is not only brutal, shocking or gore: An airplane engine humming crescendos in the background as polar bears drop out of the sky, slam to the ground and meet their (very) bloody deaths. An imagery close to the worst of the 9/11 tragedy itself,

But this ad, from a climate change communications perspective, also presents all the elements of a counter-productive strategy, which might very well end up being totally ineffective at  driving behavioral change and engagement, as Ed Gillespie, co-director of sustainable communications agency Futerra, wrote in The Guardian’s Environmental Blog:

“Certainly it’s controversial imagery will garner press interest, after all I’m writing this analytical blog for starters, and for campaigning organisations with limited budgets and only one bite at the media cherry this is crucial. However I’m still not sure it will change behaviour, the danger is that by pumping up the high octane drama of an ad, you increase the risk of viewers feeling manipulated and dismissing it as pure propaganda. Or lapsing into highly questionable failures of tact and taste in pursuit of ‘edginess’.”

In the end, again, such ad will generate some sort of buzz online & offline and perhaps will get awarded at advertising festivals, but it will not generate any positive result for Plane Stupid and the cause they defend over the longer-term.

What we call climate porn (i.e. presenting apocalyptic visions of climate change, etc…) remains mostly commercially motivated…rather than mission-driven!

To watch the ad, click here.

Credit Image: Steve Cole, Getty Images

]]> http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2009/11/25/non-ad-of-the-day-13/feed/ 0 http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2009/10/12/adctivism-of-the-day-12-coal-story-by-greenpeace-china/ http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2009/10/12/adctivism-of-the-day-12-coal-story-by-greenpeace-china/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:28:48 +0000 admin http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/?p=699 A great arty ad this week which is part of Greenpeace China’s campaign against the use of coal in emerging markets, and therefore here in China.

This animated film does a great job at raising awareness about a whole set of coal-related issues, both social and environmental, such as  deadly labor conditions, air pollution & climate change, thus leading to rising sea levels, etc. It therefore shows very well how a coal-fueled economic growth will inevitably (and is already) casts a shadow on China’s development at both social and economic levels.

Some numbers to keep in mind, and that are extracted from The Tue Cost Of Coal, a China-based research report sponsored by WWF, Greenpeace and the Energy Foundation, and published in 2008:

• China is the king of coal. It is the world’s biggest producer and consumer (coal makes up 70 percent of China’s energy needs – compared with a world average of 40 percent)

• Last year environmental and social costs associated with China’s use of coal came to RMB1.7 trillion – that’s about 7.1 percent of the nation’s GDP for the same year

• More than 31,000 coal miners in China died from accidents down the mine between 2000 and 2006

• Some 80 percent of China’s carbon dioxide – a key greenhouse gas – emissions comes from burning coal

• According to recent scientific data, rising temperatures, loss of arable land and water scarcity may cut China’s overall food production by up to 23 percent by 2050

Credits:

Advertiser: GREENPEACE // Ad Agency: OGILVY BEIJING, CHINA // Executive Creative Director: Doug Schiff // Creative Director: Yanyan Yang // Copywriter: Doug Schiff // Agency Producer: Fei Wang/Doug Schiff/Yimeng Bai/Lulu Yang // Account Manager: Vivian Guo // Production Company: VIGORTIME Beijing, CHINA // Director: Doug Schiff // Music: Artist/Title: Kadri Gopalnath // Animation: Li Zhen/Fang Xiaodong/Hou Kun/Yang Qian/Gao Lue/Hou Kun/Wu Xiandeng/Deng Nanbing/Sun Yuzhen // Art Director: Fei Wang/Yanyan Yang/Yimeng Bai // Other Credits: Animation Directors: Hong Yu/Li Jie/Zhang Aihua

Thanks @thomascrampton for sharing this.

All campaigns are being pretty innovative and make great use of digital communications tools through social networking sites, video sharing.

The best one I have seen so far is the six-month “Tck Tck Tck” awareness campaign, launched in June 09 at the Advertising Festival in Cannes by former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kofi Annan, along with his Global Humanitarian Forum. “Tck tck tck” – digital shorthand for the countdown to Copenhagen and the urgent need to address global warming – is an open-source campaign, which invites consumers and ad agencies worldwide to come up with creative ways to call for world leaders to sign up to a tough international deal on climate change by cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

As part of this 360 campaign, a “musical petition” involving some 60 world celebrities in the name of climate change has been launched on Oct. 1^st. Created by Euro RSCG’s music label, The:Hours, the petition can be signed by downloading the new version of 1980s Midnight Oil hit Beds Are Burning, from the internet (link here) and free of charge; the song is going to be the soundtrack to this movement.

Beds Are Burning (Tck Tck Tck: Time For Climate Justice) on Vimeo.

Lyrics include: “How can we dance when our world is turning? How can we sleep when the beds are burning?”. The choice of the song is very symbolic as it highlights the greatest humanitarian challenge facing mankind today, and the need for us, “Earth natives”, to take our responsibilities, as much as the original political song urged the “Western World” to take their responsibilities and give the land back to Native Australians.

To be followed…

However, the genius and creativity of the ‘Melting Ice Men’ made it all: in bid to draw attention to global warming, and urge the German government to take action at Copenhagen, ice sculptures in the shape of humans were placed on the steps of the music hall in Gendarmenmarkt public square in Berlin, on Sept. 2.

Within 30 minutes,  the 1,000 ice sculptures created by artist Nele Azevedo had already began to melt, thus symbolically raising awareness on the possible effects of the global worming.

The operation/art installation was a great success, generating both domestic and international media coverage (The Telegraph, The Washington Post, Yahoo News, The Toronto Sun, etc..) , as well as a great amount of photos taken on site, shared online, and widely commented on blogs and micro-blogging platforms, etc.

A great piece of art-icy work done by Nele Azevedo, who was not a first-timer, and who mastered the use of her art in a very disruptive, yet poetic manner!

Again, I am pretty amazed to see how two powerful medium such as art and advertising can reinforce each other and be a very efficient, and innovative, way to spread a message and letting  citizens/people reflect on the effects of climate change, such as this Polar Bears ad for EDF in the US.

What do you think? Have you ever encountered any art-vertising of that kind?

Sources: Adland.tv and QG-RemarkableAdvertising

Credits Images: Reuters

]]> http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2009/09/17/adctivism-of-the-day-10-wwfs-melting-ice-men-in-germany/feed/ 0 http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2009/09/09/non-ad-of-the-day-9-wwf-brasil-911-and-climate-change/ http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2009/09/09/non-ad-of-the-day-9-wwf-brasil-911-and-climate-change/#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:37:12 +0000 admin http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/?p=444 I believe that no one missed what has created a rather big controversy last week:  the Tsunami 9/11 ad created by DDB Brazil for WWF Brazil.

Months after running only once in a small Sao Paulo newspaper, the press ad has come back and been exposed to global condemnation and critics all over the social web with regards to the ‘poor taste’ its shockvertising approach.

What was condemned ? Using images of dozens of planes about to crash into New York City skyscrapers on 9/11 to illustrate the scale of the lives lost in the 2004 Asian tsunami… (See below). Definitely in the logic of comparing death tolls, the text says: “The tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11. The planet is brutally powerful. Respect it. Preserve it.”

WWF Brazil and DDB Brazil first denied being responsible of this ad, before finally admitting it, while a a video version of the ad was appearing online…adding more to public outrage and DDB / WWF’s discredit. I will not go into the details but it appears that this ad was a pure ’scam’ used to win prizes at  advertising festivals and so forth.

But, is it really a good ad ?

What I am here more interested about is the ad itself, and its message. And how effectively such message can reach its target audience.

As you can see, the ad  uses imagery and icons that link to an event that shocked public opinion and that is now deeply embedded into our cultural representations and emotions. But we have been knowing for quite some time now that fear-inducing representations of climate change can be very counterproductive, as  fear is generally an ineffective tool for motivating genuine personal engagement, i.e. the public might think “It is too late”, “We are all going to die”.

As I wrote about it few times already, it is more effective to talk to individuals’ everyday emotions and concerns in  order to be the most engaging, that is to say  not only raising awareness but also ultimately changing behaviors and opinions.

Furthermore, the link between the Asian tsunami and climate change / environmental degradation has never been clearly made and scientifically approved as it resulted of an earthquake. The analogy used here seems a little ‘awkward’ and might create even more confusion.

9/11, a commonly used imagery in advertising

I made some research and I actually found out that the September 11 attacks have be widely used in advertising in order to deliberately shock the general public and draw attention to issues that often remained ignored or even denied.

This is especially the case with social and environmental issues, as in 2004, when MTV launched an advertising campaign to draw attention to the issue of anger in the world. Again, it seems that it was some sort of ’scam ad’ as the three print ads ran only once in a Brazilian magazine..and finally got a Bronze prize at the Cannes Festival. (see below)

Text next to the towers: 2863 deaths
Text next to the man: 40 million HIV infected in the world.
“The world united against the terrorism should do the same against AIDS”

Text next to the towers: 2863 deaths
Text next to the boy: 824 million undernourished people in the world
“The world united against the terrorism should do the same against hunger”

Text next to the towers: 2863 deaths
Text next to the boy: “630 million indigents in the world”
“The world united against the terrorism should do the same against poverty”

In France, The Nicolas Hulot Foundation, an environmentalist group, created an international advertising campaign quite similar to the WWF one: “For nature, everyday is 9/11″. Although, here the message is a little more subtle, and probably less shocking as it uses trees instead of the actual towers… (see below)

Some other ads have explored the 9/11 imagery for more commercial purposes such as this one from Cobis, an independent, Brussels based IT company providing IT and network infrastructure and … internet security solutions. (see below)

However, such education campaigns often come off as boring and preachy – such kind of messages that end up in deaf ears as people just want to relax, enjoy the sun, play with kids and family all day long!

Well, it seems that an NGO based in California, Keep California Beautiful, has understood that and came up with the off-the-wall PSA below, which is challenging the litter lifestyle associated with fun, flirt and BBQs of summer parties.

I particularly like the tone of this ad: retro 1960’s style music and dance, “cool and hot people” that are at the core of the California brand, and a lot of ironic discourse, such as “It’s more fun to build a garbage castle”! Enjoy!

Credits: Advertising Agency: BBDO West // Prod Company: Tool of North America // Director: Geordie Stephens // DP: Ross Richardson // Production Designer: Peter Benson // Editorial: The Whitehouse Post // Music: Human Worldwide // Aired: July 2009