The Campaign

A lot had already been spoken about the problem. To drive change, we turned the humble newspaper and a small ad space into the God himself. The idea: Origami Ganesha. Using the joy of origami and a few folds, we were able to transform a square piece of newspaper into the Elephant God. With a new design each day, printed in India’s number 1 daily, we encouraged the nation to create 12 million biodegradable Ganeshas instead of the toxic version of the God.

Creative Execution

During the 11 days of Ganesh Chaturthi, each day a new Origami Ganesha ad was released with a new design that took shape of the lord himself. This was printed in India’s no.1 daily – Times of India – reaching millions of Indians and inspiring them to choose the non-toxic version

Results

Over 12 million Indian homes encouraged to create Origami Ganeshas, instead of 12 million toxic versions of the God. The initiative travelled to schools to raise an aware and eco-friendly future generation.

Ganesh Chaturthi is an annual festival that is celebrated across India. Idols of the elephant-head god are set up at homes and at communities, and then immersed into the sea. However, these idols are made from toxic materials that are harmful for ocean life. To create greater awareness of the problem and affect change we tapped into the power of the press to connect with millions of Indians on a one-to-one basis to start creating change.

To raise awareness of this problem and change behaviour we decided not to talk more about the problem. But empower millions of Indian with an eco-friendly solution. Here is where we turned the media space we got from our partner Times of India – India’s number one daily - into the God himself. Thus was born – the Origami Ganesha