Resist Against the Wasteland with This New Campaign from Surfers Against Sewage

M&C Saatchi PR today launched a behaviour change campaign it has developed for environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) aimed at tackling the threat single-use plastics pose to our oceans.

The campaign will call on the public to ‘Join the Resistance’ in a fight against Wasteland, the name they have given to the growing mass of marine plastic that can be found in the Pacific. The fully integrated campaign includes a powerful film, voiced by BAFTA winning actress Imelda Staunton, a collection of hard hitting posters, a ship built entirely of beach clean plastic and a series of instructional videos explaining how people can reduce their consumption of throw away plastics. The campaign is being launched with supporting research which reveals that a quarter of Brits think all plastic is recyclable, and on average we each produce 23kg of single-use plastic rubbish every year.

Those joining the resistance can sign up at www.plasticfree.org.uk and receive a toolkit that can help them create their own plastic free coastlines and resist throw away plastic items in everyday life.

M&C Saatchi PR developed the campaign alongside the creative department at M&C Saatchi, in particular creative duo Alan Jones and Angelo An. The entire campaign has been developed pro bono as a passion project for the combined agencies.

The video and the posters will feature across social, online and print from today. As part of the launch the SAS Wasteland Warship will be unveiled at one of Cornwall’s most iconic beaches, Marazion, before heading off on a tour that includes the Boardmasters Festival and the party conferences. The 30ft warship was created by artist James Summers and consists of over 5 tonnes of plastic waste collected from beaches around the UK by SAS.

This behaviour changing campaign aims to help encourage all UK consumers to take a moment to stop and think about the amount of plastic items we use and the impact they have on the planet; a plastic straw can be used in a drink for 30 minutes, but will be on this planet for over 200 years. SAS is aiming to get 50,000 people to sign up to ‘Join The Resistance’ and make the promise to resist one single-use plastic item. M&C Saatchi PR will also be measuring the success of the campaign through bookending the research with OnePoll to mark the shift in public awareness of single-use plastics.

Hugo Tagholm, Chief Executive, Surfers Against Sewage, commented: “In a remote area in the North Pacific lies one of the most catastrophic man-made disasters to have ever affected us. Five times the size of the UK, Wasteland is growing and threatens to destroy us and our planet, yet it is a ‘country’ not many know about. Our Wasteland Warship is designed to highlight this, helping to spread the message about what is one of the greatest environmental threats of our time.”

“There are easy steps we can all take join the resistance against the flow of plastic feeding Wasteland. Whether that’s refusing throwaway plastics wherever we can, taking refillable water with you instead of buying single-use bottled water, reusing plastic bags on your weekly shop at the supermarket or making sure you recycle more, we all have our role to play.”

Chris Hides, Managing Director at M&C Saatchi PR adds: “The idea of casting plastic pollution as a menacing superpower not only gave us the creative inspiration we needed but it also helps us to deliver a call to action for SAS that inspires and invites people to Join the Resistance against single-use plastic. Working with our friends in the advertising agency we have developed a fully integrated campaign that we believe can affect positive change.”