Every year millions of tourists search for elephant rides to book online, unaware of the abuse that takes place behind the scenes. ‘Before They Book’ is a search campaign that targets tourists at the moment they are searching for an elephant ride, letting them know the truth and making them part of the solution.

Using Google adwords, we placed ads for AuthenticElephantRides.com, a fake tour company, at the top of search results. After learning the abusive truth via a tour guide-style video, tourists were invited to make a donation, which we used to fund the adwords component of our campaign, creating a self-funding loop.

170 tourists were intercepted per day and deterred from booking an elephant ride, and as a direct result of this campaign, Lonely Planet and bemyguest.com (Asia’s largest tour operator) have pledged to stop promoting elephant rides.

Using Google adword, we targeted tourists who were searching for elephant rides by placing ads for AuthenticElephantRides.com, a fake tour company, at the top of search results. After learning the abusive truth via a tour guide-style video, tourists were invited to make a donation, which we used to fund the adwords component of our campaign, creating a self-funding loop.

170 tourists were intercepted per day and deterred from booking an elephant ride, and as a direct result of this campaign, Lonely Planet and bemyguest.com (Asia’s largest tour operator) have pledged to stop promoting elephant rides.