Sierra Club’s anti-coal campaign gets weirder and weirder

This is the latest instalment of the Sierra Club’s “Coal Will Say Anything” campaign, which we covered last month.

In this one, Mekanism (Ad Age’s 2011 Small Agency of the Year) continues the wacky shenanigans of a coal executive who tries to overdub all kinds of pop culture kitsch with misleading messages.

It’s lightly entertaining, but will it make a difference? This is the question we often ask ourselves when cause campaigns dabble in advertainment.

I suppose the real question is whether viewers walk away from watching these skits with any new information about the adverse effects of the United States’ continued dependence on coal-fired energy on human health and the environment, or with a greater desire to do something about it.

I am skeptical. But I did like the gold jumpsuits.

Beach trash is the catch of the day in this cute Surfrider campaign

My 7-year-old son, who loves fishing and hates litter, thinks this campaign for Surfider’s beach cleanup in France is “too silly”, but I really like the photography. I also like to see the trend of championing positive behaviour (with a sense of humour) rather than accentuating the negative.

And that’s about all I have to say. Two more after the jump.

No small matter - Keine Kleinigkeit

Sometimes they say in the advertising, the bigger the better ...
In the new cleanliness campaign promotes the MA 48 including a giant cigarette for the correct disposal of waste…

Trees. We’d be Lost Without Them

Belgium is one of my favorite countries when speaking about social advertising. It can’t get caught in one style but it is often bizarre, funny, weird or striking.
Just like these two ads from the Flemish organization 1 miljoen bomen (One Million Trees).

The videos are journeys through the forests of Flanders, Overpelt and Brakelbos in Belgium. It is a mix of aerial views and shots from the dense forest floors guided with music like an art house movie.
The spots explore the human relationship with trees.

The organization already reached the goal. One million trees are planted. But they want more. Their next goal is 10 million new trees in Flanders the next few years.

“Coal will say anything” in Sierra Club’s weird new campaign

For its first major video campaign (thanks to a $50 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies) Sierra Club is going after what it implies are the deceptive tactics used by the coal industry to stay relevant:

The United States still relies heavily on coal, burning it for about half of its domestic electricity production. The emissions do more than raise atmospheric carbon levels; they significantly damage public health through respiratory disease and complications.

According to Sierra Club:

“Sierra Club is launching these series of videos to bring awareness that coal is a 19th century fuel that is making our country sick and getting in the way of a prosperous future and clean energy jobs. Sierra Club has partnered up with us, Mekanism, to spread the word about the dangerous and deadly effects of coal through hilarious viral videos featuring iconic TV personalities and shows from the 1980s. These ads use irreverent humor to address and bring attention to a very serious and topical subject that continues to be a major issue in U.S. legislation and policy - the harm caused by coal pollution. ”

I’m not sure these ads will do much more than raise awareness of the Sierra Club brand and the campaign itself, since they are light on educational content. But they may help remind predisposed supporters that the energy industry really needs to clean up its act.

See another video — featuring a badly-overdubbed Bob Ross — after the break.

(And thanks to Daisy for the tip!)

The world is thirsty because we are hungry #worldwaterday

This is the official United Nations infographic video for World Water Day 2012, and it focuses on the impact industrial-scale agriculture has on the world’s fresh water supplies.

Here is the manifesto:

There are 7 billion people to feed on the planet today and another 2 billion are expected to join by 2050. Statistics say that each of us drinks from 2 to 4 litres of water every day, however most of the water we ‘drink’ is embedded in the food we eat: producing 1 kilo of beef for example consumes 15,000 litres of water while 1 kilo of wheat ’drinks up’ 1,500 litres.

When a billion people in the world already live in chronic hunger and water resources are under pressure we cannot pretend the problem is ‘elsewhere’. Coping with population growth and ensuring access to nutritious food to everyone call for a series of actions we can all help with:
- follow a healthier, sustainable diet;
- consume less water-intensive products;
- reduce the scandalous food wastage: 30% of the food produced worldwide is never eaten and the water used to produce it is definitively lost!- produce more food, of better quality, with
less water.

At all steps of the supply chain, from producers to consumers, actions can be taken to save water and ensure food for all.

And you? Do you know how much water you actually consume every day? How can you change your diet and reduce your water footprint? Join the World Water Day 2012 campaign “Water and Food Security” and find out more!

On a personal note, I am terrified when I think about how so many of the places where advanced agriculture was first achieved by humans—such as Mesopotamia, North Africa, the Levant and the Yucatan—are now desertified.

See the video after the break

Water is Life: Drinking Cups

Safe drinking water is essential. One in eight people lack access to clean water worldwide. So DDB New York launched an experiental campaign that placed drinking cups next to polluted inner city drains and pipes, driving home the message that access to clean water is a privilege. (more after the break)

Dirty little secret #worldwaterday

This is a new step from Greenpeace on their Detox campaign I wrote before here and here. This ambient campaign is designed to mark World Water Day.
Greenpeace activists and volunteers plastered cities around the world with posters covered with a special non-toxic ink that was washed away to reveal the fashion industry’s dirty little secret.
The posters were put up in shopping centres, by rivers and in other guerilla locations in cities including Stockholm, Bangkok, Madrid and Jakarta.

Consumers were then encouraged to take part in washing away the environmentally-friendly, water soluble paint to help raise awareness amongst shoppers and passers-by about the polluting practices of big brands including Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and G-Star, with the dripping paint designed to mimic the hazardous chemicals used by the suppliers of these brands.

Detox Power with Instagram

The comments on YouTube about this new Greenpeace video are very diverse. That’s happening to Greenpeace more often but now it is about the quality of the video, not about the cause.
Greenpeace isn’t know for filmography highlights but this video sticks in my head immediately.
It is Inspired by the work of viral hit-makers the Gregory Brothers.

The video launched today is a follow-up of their Detox campaign we wrote about before. The launch today is to mark the 50th anniversary of World Consumer Rights Day.
It is also the start of a people-powered instagram competition which gives consumers the chance to star in the next campaign commercial.
Until now the campaign has convinced global giants such as Nike and Adidas to commit to eliminate the use of toxic chemicals in their production processes and products.

Tommy Crawford, Communications Manager at Greenpeace International: “Consumers are the single most powerful force changing corporate behavior today. Time and time again we have seen brands giving in to consumer demands when the voices online and on the shop floor get loud enough.”

More after the break.

Nature, that’s you

Hors catégorie fashion model Doutzen Kroes stars in the new campaign video for the Dutch World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
It is the start of a new campaign celebrating 50 years WWF entitled ‘Nature, that’s you’ (De natuur, dat ben jij).
It was announced that Doutzen would act naked in this new campaign video. In fact it is true but in a very sophisticated way. That rumour made the video very popular in the Netherlands.
The outstanding beauty of Doutzen, an adorable baby, tears and great camera work makes this video very appealing.
For the Dutch WWF section, and maybe for WWF in general, this is a totally new approach.

The central campaign hub is the 50 ways website. WWF gives the visitor 50 ideas to pass the earth to the next generation.