Talking Trash

Solving world problems and thinking about sustainability isn’t normally the first thing that springs to mind when we think about Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity – we usually conjure up some sort of image of ad-men with trendy haircuts dressed trying to look casual whilst desperately talking up their creativity all courtesy of the agency expense account. Meanwhile, every minute, the equivalent of one truck of rubbish lands in our oceans. With this in mind, it was immensely pleasing to see that the “Trash Isles” campaign which lobbied the UN to recognize the issue of the growing man-made islands of trash as an official country was rewarded last week with a Grand Prix in Design plus top honours for PR. This campaign was created by AMVBBDO and used advocacy by the Plastic Oceans Foundation and LADbible.

The award is significant because it tackled a very real world issue and created strong engagement by creating an identity for the mountain of trash floating in the ocean which now occupies an area the size of France. By using this identity and creating a rational argument in a creative way, the campaign succeeded in bringing credible advocates and celebrities such as Sir David Attenborough,Al Gore and Dame Judi Dench to further its cause.

Al Gore accepting citizenship of the Trash Isles (Source: LADbible)

Whilst addressing a serious issue, the slightly tongue-in-cheek approach made it engaging – currency, passports and stamps to make it like a normal country and the creation of a population so that it could meet the criteria of a country showed a brilliant simplicity in the core idea. It was also a fun campaign for the celebrities who were engaged. The issue is still on-going. You can personally take action by visiting change.org and petition for the Trash Isles to be accepted as a country.

Communication and creative agencies often shy away from public-service and environmental advocacy programs in favor of big brand campaigns because there is a fear that budgets will be lower and there is less space for creativity. I really hope that this award will encourage other agencies to use their resources for tackling the real issues of the world. This will be a great justification for the continuation of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity!