The China Environmental Protection Foundation‘s, ‘Green Pedestrian Crossing‘ activity has been racking up major advertising awards since its activation last year. Most recently, the activity was awarded Best of Show in the ‘Outdoor’ category at the 2011 ADFEST awards.
The ADFEST awards is the largest annual regional advertising festival that celebrates creativity in the Asia-Pacific. In the words of the awards website “it is an Asian creative event by Asian, for Asians“.
Japanese work won the majority of the awards, and although Chinese creativity did receive numerous nominations only the, ‘Green Pedestrian Crossing’ truly stood out. Here’s the lowdown on this great campaign:
On Youtube:
On Youku:Background & Objective
40% of carbon monoxide emissions come from cars. According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, the country is now the world’s largest car market with over 500 million vehicles on the road. This is without a doubt having a huge impact on the environment. The China Environmental Protection Foundation hoped to use a poster to urge everyone to do their bit for the environment. They asked people to walk more, and drive less.
Implementation
The China Environmental Protection Foundation developed an outdoor campaign, displayed on the street, to creatively promote this message. They decided to leverage a busy pedestrian crossing; a place where both pedestrians and drivers meet.
The campaign involved laying a canvas 12.6 metres long by 7 metres wide on the ground, thus covering the pedestrian crossing with a large leafless tree. On either side of the road, beneath the traffic lights, were placed sponge cushions soaked in green, environmentally friendly, washable paint. As pedestrians walked towards the crossing, they stepped on the green sponge, thus leaving green foot imprints on the canvas of the tree. Each ‘green’ footprint on the canvas looked like leaves growing on a bare tree, which made people feel that by walking they could create a greener environment.
The ‘Green Pedestrian Crossing’ was carried out across 7 thoroughfares in Shanghai. The campaign was then extended to 132 roads across 15 cities in China, with a participation exceeding 3,920,000 people.
Audience
Young people who usually drive cars, instead of walking.
Results
The ‘Green Pedestrian Crossing’ campaign was carried out across 7 thoroughfares in Shanghai. The total number of pedestrians that participated exceeded 3.92 million people. Media interest, both online and offline, was significant. After the campaign launch, there were more than 300 thousands re-direct and 50 thousand posts on the Sina Microblog. Research revealed that general public awareness of environmental protection had increased by 86%. After the campaign, the print was exhibited at Shanghai’s Zheng Da Art Museum.
Agency credit to: DDB China (Shanghai Branch)
