The Campaign

For years, air pollution has been a reality in China. While on heavily polluted days, it is easy to see the haze, the rest of the time air pollution remains imperceptible. So to try to ignite conversation about air pollution, we turned air pollution into tangible pieces. We gathered 10 rising artists around a unique album. Then we released the album as a series of 200 vinyl records made of air pollution. For the first time people could see how tangible air pollution is and also experience it through another media which is music. The noise on the record was not added in post production but is the result of imperfections created by air pollution particles.

Creative Execution

First we gathered 10 risings Chinese artists from different genre, around one very unique album called “The Undiscovered”. Then instead of simply releasing the album online, we crafted a limited series of vinyl records made of actual air pollution. First we collected air pollution dust using air purifiers. Then we mixed the air pollution dust with transparent resin to make 200 vinyl records. The result is a series of unique and imperfect LPs. All records are perfectly playable, but the noise on them are the results of air pollution particles. But to make sure those records have a direct impact, all records were put to auction with proceeds going to a planting tree program with Alibaba which allowed to plant more than 5000 trees.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

Alibaba music website recorded 130 million visits in the first week. Toxic Records became a trending topic on China’s Twitter. Toxic Records got more than 100 press coverages online in China. Finally the sale of all records helped to plant more than 5000 trees to fight air pollution through Alibaba planting tree program.