Powerful Environmental Advocacy Adverts that Hit Home.

“How do we draw urgent attention to Environmental Issues and spark immediate action?” This seems to be one of the biggest global challenges. With the world ridden by issues of ecological neglect, abuse and severe environmental degradation, it is paramount that advocacy advertising agencies push their creative limits to create emotionally stirring content.

Artificial intelligence (AI) Bots are taking over the internet by storm. However, readers are now saturated with the bombardment of all sorts of quirky and unconventional content. With the infinite scroll zonking out minds, it is challenging now, more than ever, to bring immediate attention towards pressing environmental issues and calls to action through advertising material.

Today, after a long time, I spotted an advertisement in the Times of India that made me gasp in shock. I had to look at the feature twice to make sense of it, but then the meaning hit me and hit home hard. I am pasting the chilling graphic below for the readers to absorb the simple ingenuity of this powerful environmental advocacy advertisement by Unplastic India.

Image source: Unplastic India

Opening a PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) bottle is synonymous with wringing a sea creature’s neck. The advertisement clearly communicates the irreversible damage that the wide use of plastic has brought upon our delicate marine life. Terrifyingly brilliant use of metaphor. The advert was released as a call to action for putting an end to the use of plastics, an initiative by the Times of India. It strikes an instant chord. Two more in the series feature other sea creatures caught in a similar predicament. What makes it so disturbing is the cute depiction of the animal combined with the horrifying cruelty it is being subjected to. One of them is a baby penguin, and that just breaks your heart.

I began digging for more such advocacy posts that were impactful in sending their message home. I am sharing the select few that moved me, possibly because of the sense of disquiet in their undertones.

PRASA (Paper Recycling Association of South Africa): Paper Forest | Image Source: Creatopy

The Ad depicted above by PRASA (Paper Recycling Association of South Africa) is alienating at first glance. Papers replace trees. A leafless forest that is devoid of vitality and life-generating oxygen. The intention of this advertisement is to provoke readers to reflect upon their paper usage habits and embrace recycling practices. It brings to the fore the potential consequences of a world without trees.

Ad by the World Wildlife Fund | Image source: adsoftheworld

Along similar lines, and successful in making the viewer uneasy is the Ad above by the World Wildlife Fund. The piece is a haunting twist on the classic Walt Disney animation movie “Finding Nemo“. It shows the eerie emptiness underwater, with not a speck of life to be seen anywhere in the frame; the movie renamed- “Finding no One– A Story of an Ocean with no Fish”. Leaves the viewer with an unsettling feeling. Some more ads in the series by WWF, that distort beloved Disney movies to bring attention to the concern of animal extinction can be found here.

Ad by the World Wildlife Fund | Image source: boredpanda

This other ad by the WWF does not shock but is deeply thought-provoking and an eye-opener. Marine life piled on one another in the form of Jenga blocks. You remove one block containing one species, and the entire tower comes crashing down along with the land at the summit. This sends a strong message of the complex interconnectedness of life forms. Tampering with one can have dire consequences on other dependent species, ultimately leading to the fall of marine and land life.

Crafting content that drives home the intended message can be an arduous undertaking. The ones that do, most often, are based on concepts that are direct, honest, and with no-frills attached. These are the ones that tug at the heartstrings, pulling the reader out of their digital comfort zone and pushing them to take action.

I know for one that hereon, each time I casually pick up a PET bottle to open it, the macabre graphic of the contorted baby sea animals will flash before my eyes and make me rethink my choice. Therein lies the power of creativity.

#advertisements #advocacy #creatives #Environment