Young and Rubicam Paris have worked with Surfrider Europe for ten years and created some of the best advertisements I’ve ever seen, in any sector. They’ve won countless awards for their work and just released a (free) ipad app showcasing some of fruits of this partnership. A heartfelt thank you from ALL Surfrider supporters to the team at Y&R Paris for the value, intelligence, courage and impact they have added to our campaigns all over the globe.
This first ad is from 2004. It makes the simple connection many don’t see. The land is connected to the water. Land-based activities generate 80% of the marine pollution. Go here for a plethora of stats concerning single-use plastic ocean pollution.
I never understand what smokers are thinking when they throw their cigarette butt on the ground. Do they think it will pick up itself? Don’t they understand that the butt will be around for centuries?
This ad from 2007 speaks to this point. The ad copy in the upper left reads “Unfortunately the beach doesn’t clean up itself.”
In 2005 they created an ad that connected two eras. What would it look like if Moses parted the Red Sea today? We know the answer, look at the high tide line on any beach on the planet… you’ll see single-use plastic trash.
The text at the bottom says “Help us keep the ocean clean”.
This next ad, also from 2005, has been used by Surfrider entities around the globe because it educates us all on the problems, no words or translation needed.
When we hear about massive numbers of marine animals dying every year from ingesting plastic it seems abstract. When we see an image like this one, we get it.
We react strongly to seeing animals being killed. The very idea of a whale or seal being killed makes us turn away and become a supporter of organizations that stop such activity. Yet our plastic pollution in the oceans kills estimated 100,000 marine mammals and up to 1 million sea birds die every year. This should not be abstract… it’s us. Look around. How much single-use plastic do you see? Do we absolutely need to have a straw with every drink and five plastic bags for our groceries?
This 2010 advertisement seeks to connect those dots… and help us understand it is us that are killing these animals by our over-use of single-use plastics.
