While there is mountains and mountains of scientific research and literature on human beings’ impact on our planet, in terms of resource exhaustion, pollution, global warming, deforestation and habitat destruction, and animal cruelty and rights abuse, most people manage to largely ignore it. Creatively constructed print and television advertisements however, are more captivating and tend to affect a lot more people. Here is a collection of 29 such disturbingly creative advertisements from 5 different organizations trying to spread awareness and make a change – guerrilla style marketing for social justice and humanitarian causes.
They Weren’t Born to be Worn
For over 70 years now SAFE has been the voice for all animals, helping expose animal cruelty and abuse as well as fighting against animal testing across the world. The organization mainly uses public awareness campaigns (and advertisements) and political lobbying to expose and question the needless use of animals in cruel experiments and commercial exploitation. The ads above specifically target the latter, provoking questions about the use of animals as scarves, boots and other leather goods, and so on.
Stop the Chopping
2008 was a great year for WWF as well as forest conservation. The organization was able to convince over 60 governments to sign a pact to work towards zero net deforestation by the year 2020. They were able to protect over 1 million hectares of forests including tracts of land in the Amazon and Congo. The advertisements above address the issue of habitat loss due to deforestation which directly leads to endangerment and eventual extinction of species of animals.
Same Story, Different Ending
Greenpeace’s ’storytelling’ campaign targets parents and children and aims to spread awareness of increasingly important issues such as deforestation, oil spills, and irresponsible consumerism and pollution by depicting the consequences of our actions in various popular fairy tales. Imagine the future you’re creating for your children by the actions you take today. When they tell the same stories to your grandchildren, the little mermaid might not find her prince charming, the ugly duckling won’t have time to turn into a beautiful swan, and little red riding hood will be a sitting target for the big bad wolf. Though they use fiction to get the point across, this is not a story, this might be our future.
You Can Help. Stop Global Warming
Similar to the ’stop deforestation’ campaign, the ’stop global warming’ campaign also focuses on habitat loss but this time due to man-made global warming. The campaign, which reads ‘you can help, stop global warming’, urges people to prevent ecological imbalances by curbing irresponsible behavior such as keeping electronics like televisions, stereos, and computers running even when you’re not using them. The imagery used draws parallels between animals losing their homes (penguins, polar bears, and seals – some of the most at-risk) and human beings who lose their homes due to natural disasters, etc., and are forced to live on urban streets as homeless individuals.
Diesel – Global Warming Ready
Diesel’s campaign to spread awareness of global warming is stylish and provocative, a little absurd and perhaps even thought-provoking. The campaign focuses specifically on people and places, using popular tourist destinations (cities and landmarks) including Rio, London, New York, Paris, and so on, and shows what the places might look like if global warming goes unchecked. Though not scientifically accurate in terms of the actual impact that global warming would have on each location, the ads are nonetheless powerful in their message. A desert surrounding the great wall, tropical gardens in Paris, London and New York submerged under water, and Macaws in Venice, how much worse could it get? While it is hard to take the Diesel campaign entirely seriously, it still packs quite a punch.
Money, Money, Money
What if you could help make the world a better place, from the comfort of your home, would you do it? That is the message of the ‘…a few coins campaign’. All it takes is a few coins from each of us to help endangered species, protect rain forests, save habitats of animals as well as humans (after all we all share this planet of ours). Simple and straightforward, the campaign doesn’t try to guilt-trip you, just asks politely for a few pennies. Will you spare some?
The Cost of Beauty and Vanity
Ever wondered what the true cost of cosmetic beauty is? It’s certainly not the $19.99 you pay as the retail price. Lavera’s (a 100% organic and cruelty-free skincare company) ads are meant to spread awareness of what the true price of their competitors products is, i.e., the animal cruelty side of things that these painstakingly hide from you using glossy advertisements and starved supermodels. The company is proving that you can look cosmetically beautiful without harming any animals in the process.
Is This Their Evolution?
Targeting China specifically (because of their complete disregard for animal rights) these WWF China ads use the concept of evolution to ask the question, is the evolution of animals supposed to lead to soup, or a coat, or ivory? The concept is subtle (in that most of the evolution is natural, with the exception of the last step) but powerful at the same time (in that the animal evolves into a ‘product’ in the final step).
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39 Comments
December 28th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Wow… very shocking ads. – but I do actually like the Diesel ones… the others are just disturbing
December 29th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Thank you. Very thought-provoking. The Lavera ads are dynamite!!
December 31st, 2008 at 6:13 am
Whatever can be done to get people to stop and think about their actions is a good thing. I’d like to add one more ad.
http://www.usiku.net/somedreamspoem.htm
January 1st, 2009 at 9:20 am
These ads should be on tv day and night – people need to be shocked, roughed up and mentaly slammed into teality.
Keep up the good work….
January 1st, 2009 at 9:45 am
What Children Learn at the Zoo!
• They may learn a little bit about how animals behave when living in a contrived, alien environment but they will learn virtually nothing about how animals typically live in their native habitat.
• They will learn very little about what happens to an animal when its genetically programmed instincts have been subverted and, they will learn virtually nothing about how zoo animals feel about it.
• They will learn that humans believe, by their actions, that animals can be forced to live in an unnatural environment for almost any reason and, in this case, primarily to provide entertainment to humans.
• They will also learn, from watching animals held captive in cages, that, as a human, the life force and the basic quality of life of other living things do not need to be respected.
• They will learn that if humans have the power and means to control and manipulate other living things; then, it must necessarily follow that humans also have the inherent “right” to use that power regardless of the consequences that such actions have on living things.
• They will learn that how we treat animals in the zoo confirms that such treatment must be acceptable and approved by their parents, friends and society; consequently, this method of treatment must therefore be acceptable for how we treat all other living things.
• They will also learn that it is neither important nor necessary to be concerned about what happens to other living things, or even how zoo animals might feel about their situation, because society apparently doesn’t care about the feelings of zoo animals just so long as humans somehow benefit from the experience.
• They may learn, but are typically unaware of the fact, that zoo animals who are kept in isolated, constrained, controlled environments will: (1) typically have lost their capacity to function effectively in their own native habitat, (2) will not have any real ability to restore their capacity to live in their native habitat and, therefore, (3) animals raised in a zoo type environment, and their offspring, will be unlikely to survive even if they were returned to the native habitats from whence they came.
• They will most likely not learn that when an animal is held in a caged, controlled and unnatural environment; that is, one that constrains that animal’s inherent genetically programmed behavior and/or has prevented the animal from learning the critical survival skills associated with living in their native habitat; then, by that type of control, humans are contributing directly to the destruction of their life force and quality of life.
• They will be learn, from the information provided by the zoo, that zoos perform a valuable service by saving, conserving, preserving the gene pool for each animal species and, therefore, the zoo is providing society with an important environmental and ecologically sound service for our planet. Unfortunately, the reality is that:
(1) in the first place, even if true, which typically it is not, this suggests that the sacrifice of the quality of life for each individual animal is justified because placing this individual in a cage will (or might), possibly benefit its entire species and,
(2) since animals (and all living things) do not typically function well in isolation from members of their own species, a single individual will not contribute, in any meaningful way, to the integrity of the gene pool for their species and, therefore, this argument is verifiably false and is a fatally flawed understanding of the role that all species, as well as individual members of that species, have in the health and sustainability of ecosystems and,
(3) if the specific qualities and characteristics contained in any one individual animal are not an integral part of the complex interaction that that species has with all other living things in their native habitat (ecosystem); then, the stability and health of that ecosystem will very likely be compromised and,
(4) at the very least, zoos are thereby acting irresponsibly and in a manner incompatible with the maintenance of healthy ecosystems from which we, as human beings, derive our sustenance and the services that are essential to our survival. (notwithstanding the negative effects on that particular animal)
It is important to note that health, in any ecosystem, (and ecosystems, by definition, include not only each living thing itself, but all living and non-living things that are related therein to, and upon, each other), is not just the absence of disease or problems but rather, it is its underlying ability to recover…that is the essence of sustainability.
The above brief depictions of what is learned by children are not always true for every human constructed unnatural environment, such as a zoo, bird cage, animal cage, aquarium, feed lot or similar artificial habitat, because there can sometimes be exceptions. However, in general, these unnatural venues, (i.e., zoos), fail in any meaningful way to teach human beings that we need to respect the rights, roles and relationships of all living things because they are essential and critically important in the viability and sustainability of all ecosystems. And, without healthy ecosystems, human beings are not sustainable and will not survive on this planet!
We also know that by simply eliminating zoos or even stopping people from visiting them, we would not experience any earth-shattering change in people’s value systems or their behavior towards other living things nor would the disappearance of zoos immediately result in some miraculous transformation of people’s attitudes and ethical values. Notwithstanding the above, we must begin somewhere, and we must recognize that zoos are not helpful nor are they conducive to improving our perspective on how children relate to and respect all living things.
Human beings, regardless of their religious and cultural beliefs, values and experiences, must adopt and incorporate into their current value system, a code of ethics that includes a fundamental respect for all living things, for the life force that is encoded therein, for the essential value that all living things have in maintaining and sustaining the health and well-being of their respective ecosystems; and, a commitment to act responsibly and consistently within those ethical principles.
If we do not start acting in a manner that respects the complex roles and relationships that each species has within the ecosystems in which they normally reside, and even though we do not now nor we ever to fully understand what impacts and implications each species has on each other and on the health of their respective ecosystem, it is imperative that we develop an appreciation for the indisputable fact that nature has made an evolutionary determination that each species has such a role and does make important contributions to the functioning and health of those ecosystems. The contributions made by each species may not be beneficial to individual human beings or to our species (e.g., diseases, certain bacteria and viruses, etc.) however, regardless of their immediate value to Homo sapiens, each species does have value to the ecosystem wherein it resides.
Human survival on this planet will depend on many things but especially on our ability to address and resolve a number of critical issues including: (1) controlling population growth, (2) using resources wisely and conservatively, (3) reducing pollution of all types, (4) farming, timber harvesting and fishing on a sustainable yield basis and, (5) reducing energy use and preventing global warming. In order to achieve healthy, sustainable ecosystems that will ensure that humans are able to sustain themselves on this earth, each person must, in their mind and in their heart, adopt an ethically directed value system and set of guiding principles for living on this earth that are fundamentally and intimately based upon nature’s governing laws and guiding principles.
Nature has no inherent interest in the survival of the human species—only we do!
January 1st, 2009 at 9:59 am
how about a link to larger versions of the lavera ads – you know, large enough that one could read their text?
January 1st, 2009 at 9:59 am
they are supposed to be.
January 1st, 2009 at 11:34 am
The Diesel ads read totally differently to me and my partner! The message we get is “who cares what happens to the world as long as we have our designer clothes!” The homeless penquins, polar bear and seal on the bench gets my vote!
January 1st, 2009 at 11:36 am
These are incredible. Thank you to whoever designed these. Brilliant.
January 1st, 2009 at 12:27 pm
these are great ads…..hopefully they will increase awareness of how catastrophic global climate change and habitat destruction is….and how our everyday choices can have an impact…..
hopefully these ads get lots of media exposure….they have the potential to influence our behavior
January 1st, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I think your email system needs help. I tried 20 or more times to send this to myself. I could read your letter codes just fine but they were never accepted when I typed them. I have never seen this before when trying to email an article to myself and I find it frustrating to say the least.
January 1st, 2009 at 1:50 pm
i like that diesel ad where he is going to have intercourse with the woman on the beach.
i like thinking about how he is going to put his penis inside her vagina.
January 1st, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Ariela December 28th, 2008 at 6:57 am wrote: “Wow… very shocking ads. – but I do actually like the Diesel ones… the others are just disturbing”
So you didn’t like the ones that disturbed you & made you feel something? hunh, well that’s unfortunate because they’re awesome, and they are far more than “JUST” disturbing! They’re really effective & creative & hope to see more ads like this on billboards & in mainstream media! It’s such a necessity.
I agree with Del on the Diesel ads though, I almost felt as though they were mocking Global Warming at first, until I read the explanation below. Very interesting.
January 1st, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Everyone should HAVE to see this……
i am very sad……
January 1st, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Spread them. These should be on every screen, tv or otherwise, all the time; we’re not where we need to be yet, not by a long shot.
January 1st, 2009 at 8:03 pm
The Diesel London and Great Wall ads are entirely possible. London has huge gates on the Thames to control flooding, and Beijing is engaged in a “forest regeneration” scheme, employing local villagers in the upper reaches of the water catchment to plant fruit trees for income, and to improve drinking water quality for Beijing. They hope this will also halt the march of sand dunes across once fertile agricultural land.
Sometimes, apparent fantasy is already actual fact.
January 1st, 2009 at 8:54 pm
These are fantastic! And what I love is how animal focused they are. I’ll def be linking to this page in the morning on my blog:)
January 1st, 2009 at 11:43 pm
These adds are brilliant and thought provoking. Hopefully they will get the message through.
January 2nd, 2009 at 1:33 am
Actually, those Diesel ads make me like global warming. Parrots in venice, palm beach at Mt. Rushmore, a tropical garden in Paris – bring it on! Also, I think parts of the Great Wall already are running through the desert (it separates Mongolia from China, after all).
January 2nd, 2009 at 4:28 am
Really great stuff.
This is “truth,” something I know people don’t want to look at. And of course, if regular people had to see this on TV or in print … or around the web, they would think the creators of these had something wrong with them.
Yeah, and the creators, and the reason for the perpetuation of it all — is THEM.
January 2nd, 2009 at 5:02 am
Someone mentioned these ads should be on TV all the time. The switch from analog TV to digital has gotten bazillions of minutes of TV time in the last 6 months. While the facts of global warming, not so much. I hope in the Obama adm. there will be the will to put the global warming reality out on the airways so that people will get behind some serious efforts at providing all sorts of green energy. What is needed is a true shift in the mindset of Americans. Other countries are already on the way. In spite of the economic difficulties, it’s past time to make that shift.
January 2nd, 2009 at 5:38 am
Earths global warming is powerful stuff…. turns out that even the carbon dioxide
“polar Ice caps” of mars have been melting for 5 years also… How could this be??? It snows hwere in N.C. twice in November, record low temps are showing up all over the world this year… couldn’t just happen to have anything to do with the cycle of sunspot activity being over could it? But hey, sunspots aren’t “Chic” to promote so who cares… it’s us… no not really us… we’re environmentally concious as we live in our cities, recycle, give our $20. a year to green Peace and WWF, meet at chic clubs and coffee shops with other “enlightened” souls to have inteligent (LOL) discussions but ‘them’.
January 2nd, 2009 at 6:11 am
The ads really hit home and are very disturbing.
What mankind is doing to this planet makes me very happy that I am 68 and will not be around to see the horrific results of all our actions.
Good luck.
.
.
January 3rd, 2009 at 6:39 am
Wow, why no ad on overpopulation?
I mean that’s actually the cause of all this, oh I forgot, humans paid fro the ads in the first place. Remember marketing is everything.
Keep telling yourself that as 6.7 billion people (as of Jan 2009) fight over the Earth’s remaining oil. Gee that would make a good ad, or another Mad Max movie, but who would pay for it?
January 3rd, 2009 at 7:21 am
Personally I’m shocked that no one is editing the content of the comments left.
But I would have to agree with Lee Wells. Overpopulation is the main reason we’re having these problems in the first place.
January 3rd, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Hush. Overpopulation is the REAL cause of issues. No one wants to hear it because it serves no political purpose. Not catchy enough. Global Warming (oops, I mean, Climate Change) on the other hand…
January 4th, 2009 at 11:37 am
It should be about “Global Climate Change”, not “Global Warming”.
I also agree the designer stuff is out of place and does not read as intended.
Is the message: “No matter what change comes Diesel Jeans will be here for you”?!
It is disturbing that the models seem to be enjoying themselves.
Would most followers of designer items even understand some of the sights (Monte Pan de Azucar in Rio de Janeiro Brazil) to get the bigger picture?
January 5th, 2009 at 9:31 am
What about the mattresses made from petroleum oil & chemicals that is not environmentally friendly. 40,000,000 are dumped in the landfills each year.
It is not that difficult to go natural and be eco-friendly.
Joyce Robertson
Info@MountainAirNaturalBeds.com
479-966-2262
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