END7 asked celebrities including Emily Blunt, Eddie Redmayne and Priyanka Chopra to watch a powerful new video. See how they reacted to people suffering from neglected tropical diseases. The Public Awareness (PSA) ad campaign, called "How to Shock a Celebrity" begins by showing us the reactions of famous actors and musicians watching video of tropical-disease sufferers, the clip then turns us viewers to watch.
Most people have never heard of these seven diseases, but as you'll see on the video, NTDs can be horrific and are a major reason why poor communities stay trapped in poverty. It costs just 50 pence to treat and protect one person for an entire year. Visit http://www.end7.org/ to take action today. We would love for you to join us on the journey to 2020 — together we can see the end!
END7 aims to raise the public awareness and funding required to cover the cost of distributing medicine and setting up treatment programs for NTDs. A big problem is that NTDs affect neglected communities — the world's poorest people. So END7 is about providing them with a voice to help address a big problem. Emily Blunt ("Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," "Devil Wears Prada"); Eddie Redmayne ("Les Miserables," "My Week with Marilyn"); Tom Felton ("Harry Potter" series); Yvonne Chaka Chaka (South African pop star); Tom Hollander ("Pirates of the Caribbean," "Pride and Prejudice"); and Priyanka Chopra (leading Bollywood actress and international recording artist) are featured in the video and are END7 supporters. Visit http://www.end7.org/ to join the fight.
Sporting New Eyewear Supports The Police DDB Canada launches arresting campaign for the Vancouver Police Foundation
Vancouver, August 6, 2013 — Recently, the Vancouver Police Foundation launched its first communications campaign aimed to increase awareness and garner support for the charitable organization. The Vancouver Police Foundation provides funding for emerging technology and innovative ideas as well as a wide range of community policing and youth-at-risk outreach programs not included in the police department’s annual operating budget.
Developed by DDB Canada’s Vancouver office, the goal of the integrated campaign is to raise awareness for the Vancouver Police Foundation and better connect the public to the police via a line of iconic, mirrored aviator sunglasses. These sunglasses not only serve as a visual symbol of support that Vancouverites can wear proudly, but they also play a central role to all of the creative aspects within this campaign.
“The iconic sunglasses pay homage to a signature look inherently tied to police and act as a badge of support that buyers can wear,” says Cosmo Campbell, executive creative director, DDB Canada. “This becomes an opportunity and conversation piece for Vancouverites to demonstrate their support for the police and look good doing it.”
The sunglasses play a primary role in two 30-second television spots, titled “Hoodslide” and “Deflated,” which kicks off the campaign and aims to drive sales of the sunglasses. Taking a humourous twist to popular TV police dramas, both spots drive viewers to buy the sunglasses in support of the Vancouver Police Foundation and visit the website to find out more about the organization and how proceeds benefit the community.
“In the short term, the goal of the campaign is simply to raise awareness for the Vancouver Police Foundation and show support for the VPD by wearing the sunglasses,” says Martina Meckova, executive director, Vancouver Police Foundation. “Our long term objective is to increase the membership of the Foundation and broaden the support base, so that more people in Vancouver can benefit from the work that we do in the community.”
A social media contest coincides with the campaign launch and invites people to submit photos of themselves wearing the sunglasses, along with the hashtag #VPDPartners for a chance to win a unique Ride-Along police experience. Symbolizing the solidarity between the people of the city and the Vancouver Police Department, the photos from the contest will be aggregated on the Department’s website as a visual tribute to the police officers.
“Initially, we asked DDB to assist us with some print ads to promote the Vancouver Police Foundation in a local paper,” says Peter Brown, chair, Vancouver Police Foundation. “The agency returned with an impactful campaign strategy that lends itself successfully across various mediums, allowing us to build a stronger relationship with the public.”
Print, OOH, television, social, digital, public relations and an on-air partnership with Global TV BC round out this integrated PSA campaign. The campaign was created pro bono by DDB Canada with generous support from the following production partners: Clinton Hussey for Photography, OPC // Family Style’s Director Jeff Low for the TV work, Post Pro Media for post-production services, Sean Milliken for talent casting, Wave Productions for audio services and Coastal Contacts for facilitating the production of the sunglasses.
The campaign also received help from DDB Canada’s media agency partner, OMD, who offered free services by arranging a combination of donated and discounted PSA buys with BC Business, Bell Media, CBS Outdoor, and Global TV, Postmedia, TV Week and Western Media Group.
The iconic, mirrored aviator sunglasses will be distributed by the police at community events, including Vancouver’s Fresh Air Outdoor Cinema, and are available for purchase starting August 1 from the Vancouver Police Foundation website for $20 each.
“The partnership between the community and police is fundamental to crime prevention and reduction efforts,” Brown adds. “It is through the Foundation that the citizens of Vancouver can support essential policing programs that may be beyond the immediate city budget capability, raise awareness of the outstanding contributions the VPD makes 24/7, and become partners in policing so together we can build stronger communities and make Vancouver the safest major city in Canada.”
New public awareness campaign for A Child Is Missing entitled "Playtime Is Over." The ad is a bold and realistically terrifying look at what happens to many of our missing children around the world. The ad was created by the Ripple Branding Company for A Child Is Missing Alert.
Personally I found this commercial to be too hardcore at first, but after watching it a few times and allowing myself time to think about the work this charity does, and more importantly the reality of what happens to so many missing kids I was able to digest it. But it made me wonder if the ad would be effective in getting people to donate to the cause or make them close their eyes are run.
We reached out to Ripple Branding Executive Creative Director Douglas Tracy, and asked him if they were getting the same reaction to the ad: "Yes, actually we wanted to give people the chills in the most horrific way we could imagine and the actor really nailed his character and lines. So far everyone has had the same reaction, and I just hope that it translates into people taking action and donating to such a worthy cause."
Please share you're thoughts to the commercial and more importantly donate if you can, link below.
Campaign credits and special thanks go to: Sherry Friedlander -Founder of A Child is Missing Alert Douglas Tracy- ECD/copywriter Ripple Branding Company Jonny Lumbley- Director Max Gutierrez — Director of photography Alexandra Thoridt- Art director Floh Weckert- Senior Art director Jean Yarjour- Animator The Lodge Music- Music Dave DeAndrea-VO
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has launched a new public awareness campaign in an effort to get people to stop buying dogs from pet stores.
The ASPCA ads make it clear that puppy mills are horrible places for dogs, where pet shops often overstock the most popular breeds and keep them in an environment as uncaring as the warehouses that store their stuffed counterparts. These puppies suffer a similar fate to unsold toys, when they don’t find owners.
Puppies are not toys. And you should never, ever shop at a pet store that sells puppies. You see, most pet store puppies come from puppy mills—you know, those large scale breeding operations where dogs live in horrible conditions and never receive love. Well, every time you buy anything from a pet store that sells puppies, you're actually supporting this very cruel industry. Visit www.nopetstorepuppies.com to pledge your support.
Our canine friends have the support of cats too. Below, Cats across America are mad as hell. Why are they so angry? Just like us, cats are tired of the way their canine pals (yes, cats and dogs do get along!) are being treated in puppy mills.
Website,Films and images created & copyright of the ASPCA
Photographer James Houston presents "Natural Beauty" a photography book and exhibition series, the stunningly beautiful Emma Watson was the obvious star of the above web film/trailer for the event.
Celebrity Portraits for Environmental Awareness in Collaboration with Global Green USA and MILK Studios. Renowned New York based photographer and activist James Houston announces his latest project, NATURAL BEAUTY, a stunning photographic book and event series featuring some of the world's most prominent celebrities and top models. In collaboration with MILK Studio, the NATURAL BEAUTY project will raise awareness for the environment and sustainable living with proceeds from book sales and supporting initiatives benefitting Global Green USA.
The NATURAL BEAUTY book of portraits will be released in late spring of 2013 and will follow with an exhibition in New York City in April. The book includes 120 stunning images of some of the world's leading models and celebrities advocating with Houston for environmental awareness, including Emma Watson, Christy Turlington, Adrian Grenier, Brooke Shields, Arizona Muse, Elle Macpherson and many more. Houston looks towards the beauty of nature as the inspiration for this body of work, incorporating natural elements into many of the images.
Launching simultaneously with World Earth Week 2013, NATURAL BEAUTY will debut at MILK Gallery in New York the evening of April 23rd. The exhibition will be open to the public at MILK Gallery until May 5th, 2013 from 11:00am to 7:00pm Monday through Friday and 11:00am to 6:00pm Saturday and Sunday. The exhibit will also be promoted through a web series on 'The Making of the NATURAL BEAUTY Campaign,' which will include interviews with the high-profile figures involved in the NATURAL BEAUTY project and behind-the-scenes footage from the photo shoots. NATURAL BEAUTY the book will be available for sale on www.damianieditore.com, major online retailers like Amazon, and select stores in the U.S. for US$50.00 this spring.
Had enough of the Harlem Shake craze yet, well hang on for one more, and the message is powerful. The public awareness campaign was created by the ad agency Saatchi&Saatchi Amsterdam for the Parkinson Foundation. The ad stars Erik Roos who is the chairman of the foundation, who did not take his medication the day previous to filming the spot to show the world the reality of Parkinson disease and those who suffer with it.
Brilliant, thumbs up to Mr. Roos, Saatchi and the Amsterdam Ad Blog for passing this along.
A 300m super tanker longer than the Empire State building has inevitably crashed into the shoreline of the Great Bear Region of coastal BC sending thousands of barrels of toxic diluted bitumen directly into the heart of the Great Bear Sea.
WWF, Canada (World Wildlife Foundation) launches a new public awareness ad campaign to garner support and action to stop the proposed construction of the Northern Gateway Pipeline through British Columbia’s ecologically sensitive Great Bear region. The campaign centers on "The Inevitable News", a news channel that covers the news "before it happens". A series of 4 segments will roll out on WWF-Canada’s Facebook page over the next two weeks – capturing the "breaking news" of an "inevitable" oil spill in the Great Bear region and highlighting some of the fallout in the region as a result of the disaster.
Credits: Advertising Agency: John st., Canada Creative Directors: Angus Tucker, Stephen Jurisic Ass. Creative Director / Art Director: Nellie Kim Ass. Creative Director / Copywriter: Chris Hirsch Producers: Christine Stephens, Shawna McPeek Digital Producer: Cas Binnington, Ryan O'Hagan Account Team Lead: Melissa Tobenstein Account Executive: Amelia MacGregor Director: Christopher Hutsul Production Company: Soft Citizen Editor: Ross Birchall / Bijou Editorial Visual FX: Track & Field Music / Audio: Vapor Music Colour: Redlab Digital 2nd Unit: Nicole Dorsey Photography: Todd Duym
Against all odds, and the law, Asta Philpot has spent the last five years helping disabled people discover sex. Asta and the non-profit organization Come4 express how they hope to change our views on sex with this public awareness ad campaign.
Credits: Song Title and Music: Jd023 by Ryuichi Sakamoto Advertising Agency: Being-TBWA, Paris, France Creative Director: Alasdhair MacGregor, Thierry Buriez Art Director: Julien Chiapolini Copywriter: Riccardo Fregoso Director: Jeppe Ronde Production company: Bacon, Henry de Czar Executive Producer: Jean Ozannat DoP: Sebastien Blenkov Agency Producer: Maxime Boiron
Powerful new public awareness ad campaign by the Made In A Free World entitled I'm With Lincoln. Made In A Free World is building a coalition of consumers, businesses, and governments to disrupt the system of slavery. The organization produces innovative campaigns, front line projects, consumer engagement tools, and marketable business solutions to get slavery out of our system. The Abraham Lincoln campaign reminds viewers of how 150 years ago Lincoln freed the slaves and he with our help can do it again.
Credits: Advertising Agency: barrettSF, San Fransisco, USA Creative Director / Copywriter: Jamie Barrett Production Company: biscuit filmworks Managing Director: Shawn Lacy Executive Producer: Colleen O’Donnell Director: Noam Murro Producer: Jay Veal Production Supervisor: Jen Berry Director of Photography: Eric Schmidt Editorial: Rock Paper Scissors, Stewart Reeves, SpotWelders, Catherine Bull Music: J. Ralph / The Rumor Mill
Nicole Kidman, Gabrielle Union, Julianne Moore, baseball legend Willie Mays and more of Hollywood’s brightest are lending their voice to Futures Without Violence’s new Respect Challenge in a new PSA ad campaign. Press:
Nicole Kidman credits her parents. America Ferrera thanks her fifth grade teacher. And Willie Mays recognizes the impact of his father. To kick-off an online campaign and contest called The Respect Challenge, the national nonprofit Futures Without Violence has produced a PSA that features top celebrities expressing their gratitude to a person who taught them a valuable life lesson — a lesson in Respect. The PSA, a key ingredient in the national Facebook campaign which launches on Monday, September 10, features responses from such VIP talent as Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris, Julianne Moore, Gabrielle Union, America Ferrera, Joe Torre, and Willie Mays. Aretha Franklin’s iconic song, “Respect,” provides the soundtrack for the video. The PSA will also be available on Facebook, futureswithoutviolence.org, giverespect.org. and YouTube. “There’s never been a better time for a national conversation about Respect,” says Esta Soler founder and president of Futures Without Violence. “Whether you’re on the political campaign trail, or just headed back to middle school, let’s stand up to bullies and remind them about Respect.” The interactive Facebook campaign, designed to celebrate everyday role models and heroes, provides an opportunity for the public to write an online thank you note, or post a thank you video about the person who taught them Respect. Two lucky entrants will earn a donation of $10,000 to a school or nonprofit organization of their choice, as well as a VIP trip to New York City to attend the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. After the initial entry period (September 10 – October 12), fans will be invited to vote on 10 finalists who have submitted a compelling written note or a video. Scheduled for an online launch on Monday, September 10, The Respect Challenge was introduced at the San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers game on Sunday, September 9, when the Giants hosted their annual program, Strike Out Violence Day. Baseball legend Willie Mays, featured in the PSA, made a special appearance during the festivities. Futures Without Violence, a national nonprofit and social change organization with offices in San Francisco, Washington DC and Boston, created the campaign with the generous help of AKQA, one of the most-respected ideas and innovation agencies in the world. AKQA’s San Francisco Media team not only provided strategic consultation but secured more than $400,000 in donated online advertising space for the campaign and contest. Wildfire, a division of Google, and a leading social media marketing software provider, also volunteered their services to design and implement the Facebook application, and America Online’s in-house creative team offered their services to create compelling online banners and advertising units. Macy’s, the founding partner of the RESPECT! campaign, has a strong history of support for education and awareness programs that promote positive solutions for healthy relationships. “We hope that the positive stories generated through this campaign will remind us of the life-changing role that parents, teachers, coaches, and so many other mentors can have on shaping young lives,” said Martine Reardon, Macy’s Chief Marketing Officer.
ABOUT FUTURES WITHOUT VIOLENCE:For more than thirty years, Futures Without Violence has been working to promote healthy relationships and safe communities that are rooted in respect. Our educational programs, leadership training and public action campaigns reach parents, teachers, coaches and mentors, as well as legislators, physicians, judges and service providers who are influential in shaping the lives of young people.To learn more, please visit us at Futures Without Violence.org. ABOUT THE RESPECT CAMPAIGN:RESPECT! is a social action campaign to raise awareness and engage individuals from all walks of life in positive solutions to end and prevent violence. The RESPECT! Campaign is an initiative of Futures Without Violence, and Macy’s is the Founding National Partner.
Models Gina-Lisa Lohfink, Micaela Schäfer, Jordan Carver and Sandra Lang strut their stuff in a new TV and online ad campaign for German Retailer Redcoon.
The companies press: Redcoon starts with a large TV and online campaign into the Christmas shopping season with a wide-reaching TV and online ad campaign. The online retailer of electronics and books, into the Christmas shopping. Testimonials include Germany's well-known It Girls Gina-Lisa Lohfink and Micaela Schäfer. The aim of the campaign is to increase the brand awareness of redcoon.de prevail.
With a lot of humor and a large dose of self-mockery to show the It Girls Gina-Lisa Lohfink, Micaela Schäfer, Jordan Carver and Sandra Lang that redcoon.de is the online store of their choice, when it comes to electronics. Why? Because it redcoon.de at a "huge electronics selection in the network" is, namely "super cheap". For the spots the girls live together in a luxury villa, handle by the pool with tablets and smartphones and outdo each other in different spots in an effort to act as "cheap as possible", loosely based on the campaign slogan: "So much cheap There has never been, "The girls who have become famous for her curves and revealing appearances in public, take in the sites themselves and their image charming for a ride to redcoon to establish itself as the cheap electronics store on the net. "I look forward to the campaign, because it marks a new milestone in the history redcoon "says founder and CEO redcoon Reiner Heckel. "Redcoon is a pioneer in online retailing, and is among the, heavy online users' long been known as a reliable, fast, competent and effective senders of electronic goods and household appliances. Now it's time redcoon.de "to a wider audience, explains Reiner Heckel.
Broad spread on TV and online portals
The campaign seeks to brand redcoon.de be made known in Germany, according to the wide variation in TV channels and high-reach online portals. "As an Internet pure player redcoon was over a year ago a member of the Media-Saturn Group. We support redcoon you increase brand awareness. For the Christmas season starts to fight with the media coverage, as the public has come to expect from a Media-Saturn company, "says Pieter Haas, COO of Media-Saturn-Holding. planned over 2000 TV commercials are on major channels like Pro7, RTL, VOX, RTL2 and N-TV. The online marketing plan includes a mix of range and special-interest portals. Large-format advertising and website events include booked on bild.de youtube, GMX, CHIP Online or mirror online — over 90% of placements are working here with video productions. Besides television and online advertising are also social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter Youtube and very intensely involved in the media mix. Even before the filming was for a great casting action of partners bild.de Sandra Lang brought redcoon as another girl in the house. for creation and implementation of the campaign, the Serviceplan Group is responsible: the lead agency is the Service Plan Campaign. Together with plan.net and Media Plus, the agency group was convinced in the late summer and made it through a multi-stage pitch against the competition.
Whether you look to the 80-foot-long mosaic at the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal, the giant white wording ‘You’ve Changed’ on the side of a building near Queen Street West and Ossington Avenue or the Greenwood Village Mural in the Beach, Lilie Zendel said the first year of StreetARToronto (StART) accomplished exactly what the program set out to do.
“(StART) was created last year as part of the graffiti management program to support and celebrate permitted graffiti and street art,” said Zendel, manager of the City of Toronto program.
StART is administered by the Public Realm Section of the Transportation Services Division at the City of Toronto and aims to develop, support, promote and increase awareness of street art and its role in adding beauty and character to neighbourhoods across Toronto.
StART hosted a meeting at MOCCA in West Queen West on Jan. 21 to wrap up their inaugural year and share details of this year’s program. In 2012 StART partnered with 20 Toronto organizations to create 48 murals across the city, on walls, fences, underpasses, benches and pavement, particularly in areas that are targeted by graffiti.
The creation of these murals assisted in cleaning up 1,300 pieces of ‘tagging’. More than 60 artists were involved in the projects.
The challenges that program participants faced in the first year, Zendel said, was finding the funds to match StART grants, which is a criteria of the program, finding walls to use in the city, and managing complaints from building owners, artists, non-profits and Business Improvement Areas.
The other big issue is maintaining the murals and preventing vandalism. “We certainly want to expand as much as we can in a geographic sense,” Zendel said. In 2013 StART will continue with its Partnership Program and its Diversion Program, which involves at-risk youth. Although StART aims to support artists it does not fund artists directly, but funds projects through organizations. Applications for murals to be painted this year are due by April 15 and they can be made through the StART website at http://www.toronto.ca/streetart/ Applications have to be made by incorporated non-profit or charitable organizations and must operate in Toronto.
“I personally would like to see some really large-scale projects this year,” Zendel said, adding the maximum funding for the partnership program has been increased to $30,000.
The StART contribution cannot exceed 70 per cent of the cost of the mural and of that remaining 30 per cent the partner organization must raise at least 15 per cent in cash.
By the spring of 2013 Zendel said they hope to launch a user-friendly map, which gives the details of the 585 murals and street art pieces found in Toronto. The map would include information about the artists and their inspiration for the work.
Story by Erin Hatfield via: York Guardian To learn more about the City of Toronto program that aims to beautify communities across the city through street art and wall murals visit http://www.facebook.com/StreetARToronto
In Belgium, about 5.000 disabled people are on a waiting list for a disabled-friendly house. To make the public aware of that acute housing shortage, 6 disabled people decided to squat an old mansion in Brussels. Their motto? You can’t live on a waiting list. Inclusie Invest, a non-profit cooperative society, organizes such housing projects. To make people aware of Inclusie Invest and the housing shortage, 6 disabled squatters also recorded their own version of Madness’ well-known hit Our House. The breath-taking video clip, performed by 1 blind, 3 people with Down syndrome and 2 wheelchair patients, was directed by Guy Goossens. The street of the squatted house was also recreated online on kraakmee.be . People who like the campaign can squat along virtually, letting the house grow and grow.
A big thanks to: Joyce, Leen, Dimitri, Peter, Gert, Sammy, (the actors), Guy Goossens (director), Theater Stap, Thomas Buelens, A-sound, Spots, Lucky Cameras, Base Camp Jules Logistics, Chiro Koekelberg, Jan Torsin (the pigeons), Hussein en Nathalie (the interns), Tiny, Gloriant, Michaël en Ruben, Sander Jansens (for the fire)
Our House used courtesy of Union Square Music Ltd under exclusive licence from Stirling Holdings Ltd. Publishing Music Rights: Emi Music Publishing Services Belgium NV.
Credits: Advertised brand: Inclusie Invest Advert title: You can't live on a waiting list Category: Non-profit Advertising Agency: TBWA, Brussels, Belgium Agency website: http://www.tbwa.be Creative Director: Jan Macken, Gert Pauwels Creative team: Bout Holtof, Geert Feytons Account team: Katrien Crabbe, Mieke Michels, Geert Potargent Strategy: Vicky Willems
Tennis Canada launch a national public service ad campaign promoting tennis participation for children across the country and the “Let’s Make Tennis Matter for Kids” fundraising initiative. The campaign includes three ads that highlight the fact that maybe, just maybe not every kid in Canada wants to play hockey and to give tennis a shot. Above, "Goaltending" and below "Penalty Box".
“We know that hockey in Canada is like a religion,” said Michael S. Downey, president and CEO, Tennis Canada. “But the truth of the matter is that not all kids are interested in lacing up their skates and hitting the ice for the first time. We want to ensure our sport is an option for those kids and their parents by increasing awareness and accessibility to Kids Tennis. This campaign and the resulting money raised will help us in achieving our mission of growing the sport of tennis across Canada.”
The campaign is the work of Toronto based Bensimon Byrne, Canada's largest independent agency. That sounds so good considering the recent mega Publicis/Omnicom merger.
Credits: Creative Advertising Agency: Bensimon Byrne, Toronto, Canada Creative Director: Joseph Bonnici Associate Creative Director / Art Director: Dan Strasser Associate Creative Director/ Copywriter: David Mueller Account Director: Mark Hewitt Producers: Christine Pacheco, Michelle Pilling French Producer: Claudia Theriault Film Production: OPC Director: Chris Woods Executive Producer: Harland Weiss Editing: Married to Giants Editor: Graham Chisolm Audio: Pirate Director: Vanya Drakul Transfer: Alter Ego Online: Alter Edo Online Editor: Darren Archim
Metro (about Metro below) released this awesome public service / awareness campaign with a song, "Dumb Ways To Die" encouraging people to be careful around the trains. The animated spot comes complete with a website and Tumblr page with some fun GIF's from the song clip.
Metro is the name of Melbourne's metropolitan rail service. Melbourne’s metropolitan train network operates 203 six-carriage trains across 830 kilometres of track.
The train fleet covers more than 45 million kilometres per year servicing more than 230 million customer journeys. The Metro train network has 15 lines, 215 train stations and a loyal workforce of 4,200 rail professionals including train drivers, mechanical and electrical engineers, network operations specialists and customer service representatives.
Short rationale: #ToiletThink is a Sieropositivo.it social campaign against HIV virus diffusion, dedicated to women. To let them think about the importance of protecting themselves. Always. With no exception. “When you use a public toilet do you worry about infections?”
This started out pretty good, but we really good have done without actually having to see and hear the woman peeing, fast forward to about 1:25.
Credits: Advertising Agency: TBWA\, Milan, Italy Executive Creative Director: Nicola Lampugnani, Francesco Guerrera Creative Director: Gina Ridenti, Hugo Gallardo Art Director: Federica Facchini, Mattia Montanari Copywriter: Valentina Barone, Matteo Grandese Digital Creative Director: Michele La Fiandra Progect Manager: Raffaella Garzitto Producer: Federico Fornasari (Industrial Strange) Production Company: The Family Director: Luca Lucini Cinematographer: Marco Bassano Editor: Marco Bonini Executive Producer: Lorenzo Ulivieri Producer: Tania del Pra, Tommaso Haimann, Barbara Callicchio Music: Alessandro Branca Discovered via: IBelieveInAdv.com
Looking to shed light on the disastrous effects plastics are having on the world’s oceans, the international environmental advocacy non-profit group Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) turned to leftchannel – the motion design studio led by Executive Creative Director and President Alberto Scirocco. Leftchannel was challenged to craft an entertaining yet informative public service announcement that would be a call to action for viewers to “reduce, reuse and recycle” plastic packaging. “The skills leftchannel brought to this project are valuable for translating a complex issue like this, to visually show this system and how we can make positive changes,” Leila Monroe, a Staff Attorney with the NDRC Oceans Program, says. After the organization approached leftchannel to translate the complex issue of plastic pollution to a visual platform with a positive message, Scirocco and leftchannel’s creative team (which included designer/animators Taehee Lee and Nick Schoener) set to creating a concept and script that avoided the usually negative tone found in most environmental PSAs. Rather, they harnessed the studio’s abilities to marry 2D and 3D character animation with motion design to inform viewers in a positive way. “Our goal was to remind people how important this issue is, without giving the impression that they were being criticized or that we were trying to scare them,” Scirocco says. “Americans have been recycling plastics for a long time, but the current recycling programs aren’t working anymore and NDRC wanted a new approach – one that informs and entertains in a constructive manner.” That new approach can be seen in the PSA entitled “The Great Plastic Purge” — a two-minute animated piece that was inspired by after school specials from the 1950s. The character animation style keeps the tone light, which helps engage the audience, while expressing important facts in a way that is never boring. The PSA opens with a shot of a young boy happily ripping open a birthday present that’s wrapped in numerous layers of plastic, all of which he cheerfully throws away. From there the piece follows the packaging from the boy’s home to the ocean floor, while a chipper voiceover informs about how Americans waste $8 billion a year due to plastics making it into the nation’s waterways.
This project presented several challenges. According to Schoener, from a story telling perspective, effectively illustrating why the system was broken was challenging. “We had to first understand it ourselves,” he says, “then communicate it in a way viewers could easily connect with and understand.” For Lee, the most challenging scene to animate was the underwater scene. “It was complex because it contained a lot of different 2D animated trash objects that all needed to be integrated carefully into the scene. Because the scene connects to a 3D scene afterwards, the integration of the two was tricky — both 2D and 3D had to look consistent,” Lee says. Scirocco says, “It was a challenge to take a bleak story and turn it into an optimistic one. Overall, the animation needed to address three main points in a memorable, engaging manner: bring awareness to the issue; suggest that manufacturers be held responsible for coming up with innovative packaging solutions; and get consumers to take action to reduce, reuse and recycle.” Creative Credits: Client: Natural Resources Defense Council — www.nrdc.org/oceans/plastic-ocean Project: “The Great Plastic Purge” (2 minute PSA) Agency: Natural Resources Defense Council, New York (client direct) Animation/Design/Post: leftchannel, Columbus, OH — www.leftchannel.com Executive Creative Director/President: Alberto Scirocco Designers/Animators: Taehee Lee, Nick Schoener
