Iris London

ABOUT

Frustrated by the lack of action on the Climate Crisis from previous COPs, and keen to ensure COP26 resulted in real commitments, Quadrature Climate Foundation (QCF) made a bold move. QCF purchased major outdoor media spaces – in Glasgow and at major transport hubs throughout the UK – from airports to train stations. This act effectively blocked other advertisers from ‘green-washing’ during the period of the conference.  However, climate denial came into play as media landlords effectively censored our campaign.

To fill those spaces we created a campaign that brought the human suffering at the Climate Crisis frontline direct to the decision makers in Glasgow. The creative message directly targeted global leaders and delegates on their way to, during and from the conference. It reminded them of their responsibilities and encouraged them to take significant action. 

The resulting campaign – The World is Looking to You, COP 26 – features real people on the frontline of the climate crisis around the world. Using the construct of the human gaze, we show people, who have directly experienced the devasting effects of Climate Change to their homes, looking to Glasgow.

With certain landlords effectively censoring the campaign and rejecting the original artwork as it was deemed to be “too political and too threatening”. We had to pivot our approach to pass their criteria, at specific sites, so that they wouldn’t resell the space, that we’d already booked, to other corporate entities. We cropped into the faces of our subjects and used QR codes linked to immersive 360 panoramas, videos and eye witness accounts. We dubbed this new version of AR - Alarming Reality. We then exposed the climate denial with an exclusive 8-minute segment on the national News.

We commissioned War Photographers, already on the ground, to capture portraits of people affected by the Climate Crisis. Our images show our subjects looking directly down the barrel of the lens. Each person is stood in front of their respective home with the devastating impact of climate induced flood, fire, drought or famine clear to see. Powerful headlines spoke directly to the delegates and reminded them of their responsibilities. The message was simple: urgent action needs to be taken and we are all Looking to you COP26. 

Our message reached key decision makers, gaining momentum on social media with several high-profile delegates including Archie Young, the UK Chief Climate Negotiator and Karel van Oosterom, the Netherlands Ambassador, commenting and sharing the campaign on their channels. Our line was echoed throughout the conference, even being directly quoted by Sir David Attenborough himself. Then, at the high of the talks, we blew the lid on the censoring of the campaign in an exclusive segment on Channel 4 evening news.

The OOH campaign achieved 74 million impressions with half a million viewers watching the primetime broadcast live on Channel 4.

AWARDS

Clios - Shortlist

MADEIT CREDITS

  • Quadrature Climate FoundationClient
Annual 2022 People's ChoiceThe World Is Looking To You COP26Direct Marketing Annual 2022 ShortlistThe World Is Looking To You COP26Social Good Contributor:

Iris has been a Contributor since 19th January 2017.

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The World Is Looking To You COP26

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