The Campaign

We wanted to increase awareness of Roppongi's garbage problem among visitors to the neighborhood, and implement our project as a means of enlightening them. We created huge social media buzz by turning garbage piles into jack-o'-lanterns, the symbol of Halloween.

Creative Execution

The event ran from about two weeks before Halloween to the day after. Volunteers gathered in a Roppongi park at 7am, before the morning commute. Armed with the pumpkin garbage bags, they began picking up garbage. Despite the early-morning start time, we had 550 volunteers over a period of two weeks.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

1. Despite attracting 1,130,000 people, the event drew only a single formal resident complaint. It attracted 550 volunteers to collect garbage. As a result, instead of overflowing with garbage, Roppongi became covered with jack-o'-lanterns. It changed negative attitudes toward picking up garbage, making it cute and fun, and personal. 2. PR costs were zero. By spending ¥1,500,000 on making the bags, we succeeded in generating ¥1,000,000,000 worth of publicity.

Halloween attracts a prime demographic of mostly young people and families with children. We were able to create for this audience a sense of personal connection to picking up trash by designing a "cute" garbage bag. We created a huge support base by enlisting the help of celebrities and local key radio station J-WAVE to solicit volunteers; and collecting crowdfunding donations.