The Face of Litter: Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong uses DNA analysis to identify litterers
updated the 14 July 2015 à 18:30Littering causes environmental and societal damage. Not only are pieces of paper, plastics, cigarette butts, cans, bottles and so on that people throw away in public places, the ocean and rivers fatal for the fauna and flora, but they also convey an image of a dirty country.
Environmental organisations try hard to turn the tide on littering. There is even a day dedicated to it; Global Earth Day (22 April).
On Global Earth Day, Hong Kong environmental organisation Cleanup, Ecozine and The Nature Conservancy in collaboration with ad agency Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong launched “the face of litter” campaign using DNA analysis – the first of its kind – to fight against littering.
Experts from the laboratory Parabon NanoLabs collected and examined the DNA extracted from rubbish left on the street. From this, they gathered other demographic information, such as the litter type and the neighbourhood in which it originated in order to form a picture of the suspected litterers, and exhibited their likeness around the city and online. “Litter is such a major problem in Hong Kong and thanks to newly available DNA technology we can now put a face to this anonymous crime and get people to think twice about littering”, said Reed Collins, the Executive Creative Director of Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong
Innovative and creative, this might be more effective than previous campaigns, as we are almost certain that nobody want to become the face of litter.
Lindsay Poui-Di
