Summary

In 2012, all rivers and tributaries in Metro Manila were declared dead. It is a huge problem, affecting health, fisheries production and tourism. According to World Bank, the annual economic losses caused by water pollution is estimated at US$1.3 billion. There are many efforts to create urgency for the problem, focused on exposing the horrible conditions of the rivers. They have become so common, they lost their value. We needed to come up with an effort that will catch the attention of our intended target and make them see the advocacy with fresh eyes. How do we dramatize the condition of the rivers without them looking away? Instead of showing disgusting images to depict the filthy conditions of the river, we produced beautiful artworks. Our artists used Dirty Water Color, unique pigments created using water samples from Manila’s most polluted rivers. The samples were processed in a laboratory, decontaminated through autoclave and concentrated to produce colors like black, sepia, burnt sienna, gray and brown. These pigments were used to paint portraits of children and families living along the dead rivers. The pigments were very challenging to work with, with the colours all on the monochromatic side. But even without the usual colours, the artists came up with beautiful images that are full of emotions. Emotions that colour the Filipino life. ABS CBN Foundation, presented the artworks in an exhibit that ran from May 25-27, 2016. Dirty Watercolor was one the most attended art exhibits of the year. During the 3-day exhibit, hundreds of guests registered to support the ABS CBN foundation's efforts to rehabilitate Manila's most polluted rivers . The exhibit was featured in over a hundred websites, news programs and blogs around the world, including core77, Le Monde, BBC, Huffington Post, TrendHunter, Yahoo News and Reuters. The exhibit also inspired others countries facing similar issues to take action like Russia. Without paid media support, the campaign generated 3.3 M views and 2.4 B potential reach within the 1-week campaign period, amounting to 6.1 M in media values.