Impactful Social Responsibility Activations

1. Corona, Plastic Fishing Tournament

Advertising Agency: We Believers, New York, USA

Production Company: Primo Content, Mexico City, Mexico

Mexican Beer Corona’s ‘Plastic Fishing Tournament’ commercial, directed by filmmaker Francesca Canepa, introduces their groundbreaking environmental initiative, whereby fishermen can implement their incomes, by selling catches of ocean plastic waste to recycling companies.

Fishermen in Mexico successfully netted a headline-making 8 tons of plastic waste, that subsequently led to the exportation of Corona’s ‘Plastic Fishing Tournament’ brand activation, to China, Israel and Brazil.

At the 2023 Clio Awards, ‘Plastic Fishing Tournament’ won three Grand Clios for Direct, Experiential/Activation, and Public Relations mediums.

2. Grupo Estratégico PAE, Morning After Island

Advertising Agency: Ogilvy, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Production Company: 14 al Centro Latam, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Ogilvy Honduras and women’s rights organisation, Grupo Estratégico PAE, launched a social activation initiative, to overturn a 2009 government decree, banning the use, sale, and distribution of emergency contraception pills, with severe penalties for contraventions.

A case-story film, directed by filmmaker Julián Maira, depicts the innovative activation’s ‘sea plan’, in its impactful support of Honduran women’s rights.   

The ‘Morning After Island’ campaign, at the 2023 Clio Awards, won three Grand Clios for Direct, Experiential/Activation, and Public Relations.

3. UNESCO & Polycam, Backup Ukraine

Advertising Agency: Virtue, Copenhagen, Denmark

Production Company: Vice Studio, New York, USA

Polycam Altadena, Los Angeles, Virtue Agency Copenhagen, Vice Media Group, and UNESCO, teamed up to digitally preserve Ukraine’s historical and artistic heritage, with Polycam’s powerful prosumer app, that allows one to use an iPhone or iPad to scan any physical object in 3D.

With the Russian bombardment of the Ukraine Republic, that has as many as seven UNESCO nominated World Heritage Sites, at least 52 cultural sites have been partially damaged or destroyed since the start of the conflict.

These include 29 churches, 16 historical buildings, four museums and four monuments,  Unesco’s deputy director general for culture, Ernesto Ottone Ramirez, reported in early April.

4. Whisper, The Missing Chapter

Advertising Agency: Leo Burnett, Mumbai, India

Production Company: Offroad Films, Mumbai, India

Procter & Gamble’s, Whisper Femcare brand, launched a social activation campaign aimed at preventing the 23 million girls who drop out of school, due to a lack of period understanding and menstrual hygiene.

To date, the Whisper initiative has pioneerd the education of more than 54 million girls, about puberty and menstrual hygiene, and their social activation campaign won India’s first Grand Prix in the Sustainable Development Goals category, at the recent Cannes Lions Festival Of Creativity.    

The ‘Missing Chapter’ commercial, directed by filmmaker Akanksha Seda, highlights the importance of educating young girls about their natural biological development, to prevent the loss of self-esteem and self-confidence. 

5. Dove, Toxic Influence

Advertising Agency: Ogilvy, New York, USA

Production Company: Smuggler, Los Angeles, California, USA

Post Production Company: Absolute, Chicago, USA

Dove’s Social Media Report revealed, that one in two young girls claim toxic beauty advice on social media, has resulted in a depressing loss of their self-esteem.

In response, Unilever’s personal care Dove brand, and Ogilvy, lunched a laudable social activation campaign for Moms, who are unaware, of just how damaging unscrupulous social media advice can be to the morale of their daughters.

6. Boehringer Ingelheim, The Unwearable Collection

Advertising Agency: Area 23, New York, USA

Production Company: Dalmatian Cow, Los Angeles, California, USA

Pharma & Medical Craft Grand LIA, and Clio Heath Gold, 2022.

Headquartered in Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany, Boehringer Ingelheim is a research-driven group of private companies, dedicated to the discovery, development, manufacturing, and marketing, of innovative health care products.

Area 23, Cannes Healthcare Agency of the Year 2022, and Boehringer Ingelheim, engaged world-renowned Dutch artist and designer, Bart Hess, to create an ‘unwearable collection’, of cognitive representations of the suffering caused by the rare skin disease, generalised pustular psoriasis (GPP).