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2021 One Show - Social Media

Eurythenes plasticus

Agency BBDO Group Germany GmbH + Sehsucht GmbH

Client WWF Germany
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Annual ID

OS_SM21_028G

About the Work

Germans are some of the best sorters of rubbish in the world, but well under 30% of our plastic is recycled. Rather than dealing with our own trash, Germany is the third biggest exporter of plastic waste (behind the USA and Japan) to countries in South East Asia. The ocean plastic problem goes far deeper than anything previously imagined. The problem is so bad that new deep-sea species are being found already contaminated by plastic.

When you find a new species you get to give it a name. To highlight that our ocean plastic problem goes deep, we named a new deep-sea species after the plastic found inside its body - Eurythenes plasticus.

This idea is the culmination of over one and a half years of collaboration together with world renowned marine ecologist Dr Alan Jamieson from Newcastle University. The campaign launched on 05.03.20 with the official publication of the Scientific Manuscript, creating history and making Eurythenes plasticus officially part of our planet’s taxonomic record. Within hours, a worldwide conversation had ignited over the extent of the plastic pollution in our oceans in over forty countries. Following the publication of the new species, we rolled out an actionable approach across Facebook and Instagram by creating an interactive deep-dive journey using the “Pitch, Play, Plunge” framework. We made interactive and educational ads and organic activations all driving the user to the main campaign objective - sign the petition.