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Crude Oil Calamari? It's All About Protecting the Environment
Icky ads from WCS and McKinney back Hudson Canyon ecosystem
More methane sludge for your sea bass? Who wants seconds?
The Wildlife Conservation Society and McKinney employ food styling techniques—in reverse—to give viewers “a taste of a bleak feature.”
Breaking this week, the work aims to show New York and New Jersey residents what might come to pass if key ecosystems—in this case, the East Coast’s Hudson Canyon—aren’t protected.
*Chef’s kiss* for a simple message, delivered simply, tweaking the “pretty food” ad trope for maximum impact. It memorably makes its point without getting outrageously visceral or wacky. (For that kind of environmental outcry, only The Deep from Amazon Prime will do.)
“As an agency, we spend a lot of time and effort making food look delicious, but in this case, we flipped that expertise on its head,” notes McKinney ECD Alex Shulhafer. “For this campaign, our approach was to shock people into understanding the contamination threat to a major source of our seafood, the Hudson Canyon, and create urgency to act now to prevent the oil, gas and mineral drilling that threaten to destroy it.”
Work drives folks to a dedicated website, where they can learn more and support expanded regulation.
“People need to understand that our relationship with our seafood–from prep to cooking to consumption—could change if we don’t act now,” says WCS executive director of public affairs & partnerships Christine Osekoski.
