Why Ogilvy Poland Created a 1:1 Scale Minecraft Map of the Bialowieza Forest

A campaign by Ogilvy & Mather Poland came to attention again this week as the Polish environment minster, Jan Szyszko, was dismissed by Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki. 

Szyszko was dismissed for his role in the intensified logging of the Bialowieza Forest, a UNESCO protected area and Europe’s last remaining lowland natural forest, in 2017. It was deemed that the logging was in contravention of European law and Poland was facing daily fines of €100,000 (£88,000). 

At the time it was claimed that the logging was taking place in a bid to combat the presence of an insect called the spruce beetle, despite the vast majority of the scientific world being strictly against interfering in the natural evolution of the space. 

And so, in June 2017, Ogilvy & Mather Poland, along with Greenpeace Poland and the Polish State Forests, set to work to protect the forest and educate future generations about the importance of preservation. They launched ‘To The Last Tree Standing’, a digital campaign whose central point was a 1:1 scale custom Minecraft map of the entire Bialowieza Forest. 

“We have created a safe space for young people to educate themselves and exchange knowledge without getting confrontational,” said Ogilvy Poland executive creative directors Tytus Klepacz and Maciej Twardowski at the time. “It's the third week of holidays in Poland now, and we see thousands of youths voluntarily learning the Bialowieza Forest at home, thanks to our campaign.”

The agency was of the opinion that most world conflicts are generated through a lack of understanding and knowledge of the given subject, and so educating the youth community about it would help lay the groundwork for a more positive future. “Those young people who now want to learn about the subject, in just a few years time will get to actively participate in adult life,” Ogilvy senior copywriter Wojtek Kowalik. “If they learn - moreover by choosing to do so themselves - about protecting the nature now, maybe they will make better choices than we do?"

The campaign also consisted of a 27-minute long documentary about the logging situation, an exhibition of 12 of Poland’s best contemporary photographers and heavy support from Poland’s most popular YouTube celebrities.