So, now we’ve done the diet thing – quite literally, as we’ve already ditched our attempts to shift those extra festive pounds – here at the home of the Decision Marketing Adometer, it’s time to get serious.
What, we hear you ask… surely, they’re not going to attempt to dissect the impeachment of Donald John Trump or the Machiavellian machinations of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin? Of course not. But we are talking about the future of the planet, so it is relatively serious.
You see, this week has seen the launch of a new Greenpeace UK ad, devised by Wallace & Gromit animators Aardman and an inhouse team, to get the word out about the organisation’s petition for a global ocean treaty.
“Turtle Journey” stars a host of Hollywood and TV stars, including Oscar “royalty” Olivia Colman and Dame Helen Mirren, along with Game of Thrones’ Bella Ramsey, Stranger Things’ David Harbour, Downton Abbey’s Jim Carter, and comedian Ahir Shah.
It tells the tale of a plasticine turtle family – who funnily enough all look exactly like the Wallace character only with a green tinge – heading home through an ocean that is under increasing pressure from climate change, plastic pollution, oil drilling and overfishing.
When the turtles finally make it home, they are just about to cross the threshold when a massive bulldozer appears out of nowhere and the screen goes blank. A few moments later, the choked up family reappear and one of the kids mumbles something, although we can’t make out what.
As you can imagine, the stars of the spot are very eager to show the world how much they care, and they are coming over crystal clear.
For instance, Olivia Colman, who voices the turtle family’s mother, said: “Home is the most important thing we have. A safe space for us and our family to live. But we’re taking that away from turtles, whales, penguins and so many other incredible animals.
“Most of us instinctively love the oceans and care about the amazing marine life that lives there, but far fewer people know how much pressure they are under. If we don’t act now, we risk causing irreversible harm to our oceans and losing species for good.” Don’t say you haven’t been warned.
Dame Helen Mirren, voicing the turtle family’s grandmother, is even more vociferous. She said: “During my lifetime, I’ve seen nature being destroyed on an unimaginable scale by human activity. I’m saddened that our generation will leave to future generations a damaged planet, which has already lost so much of the biodiversity that makes it special. However, we have a chance to do something now and leave a legacy of properly protected oceans to all the people who come after us.
“We can’t bring back what we’ve already lost, but we can protect what we still have. I hope this film will help to make more people realise the ocean is worth protecting and inspires us to act before it’s too late.” Good job L’Oréal Paris has a decent environmental record or there would be all hell to pay.
So, what is the consensus around the Decision Marketing office? Will we be tightening up our green credentials for fear of being exposed by Hollywood A-listers? More importantly, will this film inspire us – and everyone else who sees it – to spread the word to get the world and his wife, husband, civil partner or lover to sign the petition for a global ocean treaty?
Well, it might but there is a big BUT.
The thing is, no-one can argue with the cause (other than Donald John Trump of course) BUT does Aardman fit the bill? After all, this is a company whose advertising credentials were built on the 1990s “Heat Electric” campaign for yep, you guessed it, the energy companies – the very businesses which Greenpeace is battling.
Aardman has also worked for Npower – who are hardly “friends of the Earth” – as well as scores of other brands including DFS, Zoopla, Fortnum & Mason, ITV, BBC, Channel 4, Whitworths, PayPal, Braun, Persil, National Accident Helpline, Levi Roots and Nokia to name just a few.
Unfortunately, it is beginning to feel like Aardman will work for virtually any company so long as they have deep enough pockets. Shame really, because we do still quite like the ad…
Decision Marketing Adometer: A very generous 7 out of ten (told you we quite like it)
