Saatchi Killed Your Pandas.

A killer campaign from the always-excellent Saatchi & Saatchi.

They’ve taken a virtually unknown issue that nobody’s really cared about and turned it into something that gets your attention and turns up the “Awww” factor to unbearable levels.

Overfishing of bluefin tuna is a giant problem. I really don’t like tuna, I think it’s kind of the funk, and to be honest they’re giant (No really, they’re as big as great whites) and scary.

It’s a hard issue to get people to care about: they’re not particularly cute, intelligent, or interesting. They don’t sing like whales do and it’s hard for us to care about animals that don’t give birth to fuzzy, pink, blind things that make cute noises.

In short, the noble bluefin tuna doesn’t have a whole lot of champions. It can’t help that it’s ugly and smelly, can’t do tricks and never had a cherished television show.

You don’t need to run off and start cutting nets. Here’s what you can do:

1.     Lay off the sushi—this was the hardest for me. I could face dive into the stuff like Scarface and never come up for air. If you absolutely cannot resist the siren call, get friendly alternatives: Squid, octopus, freshwater eel, Alaska wild salmon, roe and mackerel are all pretty good alternatives—their populations are varied and abundant and they’re caught in sustainable ways.

2.     MSC-certified—if your eyes are getting huge and you’re having trouble breathing because you think this means you can’t eat tuna—chill. Canned tuna is yellowfin (not yet critically endangered, but getting there) and skipjack. Next time you’re at the store, look for the MSC seal of approval.

3.     Don’t be a dick—this is perhaps the most important one of all. There’s nothing worse than coming off too strong, babbling about “sustainable rod-fishing” to your co-worker at lunch who’s just trying to enjoy his goddamn Spider Rolls. Then the next time he’s in Fresh Market and sees that juicy bluefin steak, he’s going to buy it and roll his face around in it just to spite you.