MINKE/SANCTUARY/SEI

TitleMINKE/SANCTUARY/SEI
BrandINTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE
Product / ServiceANTI-WHALING
CategoryA02. Posters
EntrantJWT Melbourne , AUSTRALIA
Entrant Company:JWT Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Design/Advertising Agency:JWT Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Richard Muntz JWT Melbourne Executive Creative Director
Keith Nicolas JWT Melbourne Deputy Creative Director
Harsh Kapadia JWT Melbourne Creative
Chris Andrews JWT Melbourne Creative
Josh Armstrong JWT Melbourne Creative
Darren Evans JWT Melbourne Typographer
Michael Travers JWT Melbourne Agency Producer
Daniel King JWT Melbourne Account Supervisor
Anuj Mehra JWT Melbourne Planner
Erica Martin IFAW Vice President of Communications
Patrick Ramage IFAW Global Whale Program Director
Tom Bagshaw Central Illustration Agency Illustrator
Ben Cox Central Illustration Agency Producer

Brief Explanation

Achieving our objective was not going to be easy. The average Joe does not get to see a whale in his lifetime and therefore understandably finds it difficult to feel the pain that whaling inflicts on these gentle giants of the sea. The challenge for our posters was to make the viewer feel anger and hate towards whaling and not just mere sympathy for the whales.

The Brief

Commercial whaling was banned in 1986. Yet, whales face more threats today than at any other time in history. Whaling nations - led by Japan, continue to kill thousands of endangered whales in the name of 'scientific research'. Our client, IFAW was keen to put an end to this sham. We were tasked with the objective of garnering mass support and opinion against the inhumane act of whale-hunting.

How the final design was conceived

Killing a whale for scientific research is as ludicrous as building a coal-fired power station to examine greenhouse gases. Our design needed to amplifies the ridiculousness of whale-hunting in the name of scientific research and place it in stark contrast to the grace and magnetism of these gentle giants. We wanted the images to speak to the insanity of the perpetrators, without showing the obvious brutality of whale killing.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The campaign has already received a great response from IFAW's global offices and the campaign has been made available for use to other countries to help protect whales around the world. The posters have been seen by many as art rather than advertising.