Results and Effectiveness

The CEO of Resorts World, the Minister for National Development and the CEO of the Singapore Tourism Board were bombarded with petitions as soon as the application went live. Within two weeks, Resorts World called for a meeting with Sea Shepherd representatives and other NGOs to announce that they would be submitting new plans for the aquarium that didn’t involve a whale shark. The announcement was made public on May 16, 2009.

Creative Execution

We created an online gambling application where people could bet on how long the whale shsark could survive in a glass tank. Cards ranging from 1 month to 72 months were set out on the green baize and participants were invited to pick the card they best thought represented the length of time the whale shark would survive in captivity. Naturally, we included a prize — a stunning desktop memento of a whale shark in a glass coffin, offered to the person whose prediction came closest. Offline, the campaign was supported by posters and postcards that invited people to place bets on facebook. Online banners at various NGO websites also directed people to the application.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Resorts World, an integrated resort developer in Singapore, was planning to acquire a whale shark for public display in an aquarium at its casino complex. The whale shark is a vulnerable species, on the verge of becoming endangered. And historically, they have not fared well in captivity. Hence, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, wanted a platform to raise public awareness over the issue and generate enough anger among the public to generate thousands of petitions to policy makers so they would reverse their decision. Our solution was to create an online gambling application where everyone could bet on how long the whale shark could survive, and then send petition letters to Resorts World and the Government authorities.