Heal the Bay and AI Aid's Plastic Dress Proves Reusable Is Beautiful

Independent creative agency The Many has launched a digital display and out-of-home (OOH) campaign for non-profit environmental group Heal the Bay, which is dedicated to protecting Southern California’s coastal waters and watersheds.

The Los Angeles-based outreach debuted Thursday night at the Bring Back The Beach donor gala in which artwork was sold to raise money for Heal the Bay’s efforts. The campaign includes social media, digital display, limited-edition prints for the event, and OOH donated by Billups. The media, which was donated, will run for the next two weeks.

The Many’s artwork inspired the gala’s 2024 'Reusable Is Beautiful' theme. All campaign materials were made on a zero budget and created zero waste with the help of AI. 

The initial objective was to impact the way people think about Southern California’s oceans and beaches through an advertising campaign that makes zero impact on the environment. The creative reimagines the way we see the garbage and plastic that washes up on our shores as couture garments and makes viewers pay attention. The agency ran hundreds of prompts across different Midjourney models. Eventually, they struck a balance and a look that had the flexibility to envision something set in LA’s beaches and waterways but had a consistent editorialised look. It’s something strikingly unconventional for an environmental non-profit.

In three pieces of creative of the dozens created, models are shown on the beach wearing clothing covered in the detritus collected from the Los Angeles shoreline. A trio of skirts are decorated in monochromatic plastic bottles and a dress reflects the colours of the water with turquoise and white discarded paper. A tuxedo is embellished with lost jewellery and sundry other found bling.

While it is unlikely anyone would wear one of these outfits, these are beauty ads. They're designed to spark a juxtaposition of recyclability, reusability, and the impact of what washes ashore after every storm in Southern California. 

“Heal the Bay is committed to practicing what it preaches,” said Matthew King, the organisation’s acting director of communications and marketing. “So our team absolutely loved The Many’s idea of creating a zero-waste campaign that still packed a lot of creative punch. AI is still scary to many people, but to see it used so cleverly to raise awareness about single-use plastics shows it can be an agent for good.”

The Many and Heal the Bay have been collaborating for the past few months. The project signals the beginning of a bigger partnership.