It might not be such a beautiful day in the neighbourhood if people keep pretending that global warming isn’t a problem.
The latest TV spot from Toronto-based World Wildlife Fund of Canada (WWF) juxtaposes the peppy Mister Rogers theme song against images of oblivious people going about their business in extreme conditions triggered by global warming – like hurricanes, forest fires and flooding. The tag is: ‘Ignoring global warming won’t make it go away.’
‘People are aware of global warming, but they’re ignoring it right now,’ says Joe Piccolo, AD at FCB Toronto. ‘We thought: ‘What if they could ignore it to the nth degree?”
‘We just loved this juxtaposition of this happier time versus what could be in store,’ says copywriter Chris Taciuk, explaining the upbeat music choice. Adds Piccolo: ‘It’s obviously just dripping with irony.’
WWF posted the spot on YouTube with a call-to-action to participate in a Toronto-area event last month. The post attracted dozens of comments from interested users, and at least 5,000 people showed up to the demo. At press time, the YouTube posting was averaging 1,000 views a day.
The campaign, which also includes OOH, print, radio and a microsite, www.saveourclimate.ca, aims to broaden the WWF’s image from simply an animal rights group to that of a ‘world security guard’ of sorts, says Taciuk. It’s running across English-speaking Canada in donated media space.
client: Pam Davis, VP marketing & donor relations, World Wildlife Fund Canada.
agency: FCB Toronto.
CD: Robin Heisey.
group CD/copywriter: Chris Taciuk.
group CD/AD: Joe Piccolo.
account team: Bill Baker, Jennifer Nagle, Fay Moukas.
agency producer: Judy Hamilton.
photographer: Chris Gordaneer.
prodco: Untitled.
director/DOP: Chris Sargent.
editor: Pete McAuley, AXYZ.
music/sound: Ted Rosnick, Rosnick Mackinnon Webster.
editorial producer: Irene Payne.
