How Advertising Can Save the World

Happy World Oceans Day!

Just in time, JWT teamed up with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) to bring you these three ads protesting whale slaughter.

"To investigate their genetic diversity,  720 Minke whales were killed last year. Minke whales now have less genetic diversity. Stop the slaughter. Help us at ifaw.org"

"To research their abundance in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, 680 whales were murdered last season. Now the Sanctuary is less abundant. Stop the slaughter. Help us at ifaw.org"

"Last year 100 Sei whales were butchered to study their eating habits. 100 Sei whales will not be eating again. Stop the slaughter. Help us at ifaw.org"

With the new season of Whale Wars and all the attention Sea Shepherd is getting, whale slaughter seems to be the “in” issue at the moment—which is fine, whatever gets people interested in marine conservation.

We’re starting a new rating system for ads here at Neptune’s Nachos (I am, after all, an advertising professional). 1 through 5 for both art direction and copywriting, feel free to agree, disagree, write a dissertation, etc.

Art Direction: While the idea is as basic as you get (not creative execution by any stretch of the imagination), the imagery is beautiful, but not enough to stop somebody walking by. The placing of the copy makes NO sense, and it looks like juvenile cursive. Put that together with the dark, textured background and it’s pretty hard to read. If the imagery barely resonates emotionally with me, chances are it won’t resonate at all with someone who’s totally ignorant of the issues facing whales today. 2/5.

Copywriting: The writing’s a little better than the direction, but not much. There’s too much information that the everyday person won’t care about—like the “Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary”. Not only will your random person not know what the HELL that is, they’re probably not going to care. That’s four words you don’t need. The language needs more power. 2/5

Thanks to shows like Mad Men, advertising has a bad reputation—many people see the industry as a greedy moneymaking machine, but that’s not true. Advertising like this is what gets people’s attention—it makes people care, jars them, wakes them up. Scientists aren’t the only ones who can save the ocean—creative people who have the power to influence the masses can really make a difference. That’s why it’s so important to put out really good ads—ads that aren’t just pretty to look at. 

We need ads that make people care.