The Brief

The zoo is a place for men and women of all ages, and people on their own. Zoos across Japan have seen a gradual decline in attendance since their heyday, especially smaller facilities located outside of the major metropolitan areas that lack the financial resources to procure rare animals and create flashy attractions. Our communications strategy was to reframe “the zoo” as an amusement destination that is relevant to young people today – not an old-fashioned relic of yesteryear – so it was necessary to take an original and unexpected approach, and to do so on a shoestring budget.

Creative Execution

We wondered whether some new form of entertainment couldn’t be found in the everyday lives of the animals. We took the animals’ playthings – old tires and giants balls – and wrapped them in fabric, to make the world’s first animal-made distressed denim jeans. The design was as simple as it was unique, and resonated with the entire spectrum of zoo visitors – and, more importantly, with young people who were not zoo-goers. Leveraging the natural instincts of the animals captured people’s imagination and gave them a taste of what the zoo has to offer.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

We wondered whether some new form of entertainment couldn’t be found in the everyday lives of the animals. So we took the animals’ regular playthings – old tires and giants balls – and wrapped them in fabric, to make the world’s first animal-made distressed denim jeans. We created three versions of the jeans – the Tiger edition, the Lion edition and the Bear edition. We then sold the jeans in a public auction, and returned the proceeds to the animals in the form of donations to the zoo and to WWF Japan.

Results

In the first two weeks of the campaign, Zoo Jeans was featured in major news channels both in Japan and around the world – a total of 737 media. In the same period, social media users mentioned the jeans made by animals in 28,346 posts, reaching a total 34,572,889 people. Furthermore, many people participated in the charity auction, with one pair alone selling for some USD$1,500.00. And the zoo saw a 132% increase in visitors compared with the same period last year. People saw the zoo in a new light – as a place that offers new form of entertainment.