Urned Media: Greenpeace Raises the Dead to Help Save the Environment

An appeal for legacy giving

I’ve watched loads of zombie movies and TV shows in my day. Never once did the undead give a hoot about environmental issues or saving the planet. Mostly they want to eat brains. Who can blame them?

But Greenpeace offers a different, darkly humorous view of funereal themes in a lively campaign from Elvis. Led by the :60 below, the work seeks to spark conversations about leaving money in your will to help fight pollution, deforestation and other ecological threats.

“Legacy giving grapples with two of the greatest taboos: money and death,” says Greenpeace U.K. fundraising director Melanie McNeill. “As a result, it is often framed as a private act, sensitively communicated.”

Breaking that mold, “This campaign reclaims legacy giving as a final act of protest, a bold and loud demonstration of our supporters’ commitment to protecting the natural world,” she says. “A legacy gift to Greenpeace is an act of defiance through which their values will live on, long after they’re gone.”

The Nott Brothers (Nathan Miller and Mark Danciger) directed via Irresistible. They deftly mix puppetry and in-camera effects for a pitch just odd enough to break through (the casket lid) and grab viewers’ attention.

“For our rebellious corpses, three hardy volunteers lay on their backs inside shallow wooden boxes (disguised as part of the real cemetery,), in -1° temperatures, before punching their way through the turf,” Elvis senior creatives Sam Hinckley and Chris Lawlor tell Muse. “It took a few takes, but we’re thrilled to the bone with the result.” (Graveyard humor —well played, gentlemen!)

“Meticulous care was taken to bring our puppets to life,” Hinckley and Lawlor recall. “[We had] a sneezing urn powered by a dust-filled tube and perfectly timed puff, plus a talking skull-and-worm duo brimming with charm and character.”

“In an industry dominated by digital, it was a real treat to invest so much care in tangible props and costumes, creating a considered style and delightfully punchy tone.”