The Challenge:

Even after the Government banned single-use plastics, India’s crisis worsened, with plastics drowning the nation. The shocking reality of 9.4 million tons of annual plastic waste suffocating marine ecosystems to the brink of disaster.

The traditional methods of public awareness and “Say No to Plastic” banners struggled to cut through the noise, fading quickly from memory and failing to instigate lasting change.

It was time for someone to raise the alarm.

The Brief:

India’s biggest changemaker, The Times of India, set out to instill a habitual change in the careless consumption of single use plastic products. The need of the hour was a powerful initiative to shatter ignorance and spark lasting change.

The Objective:

Awareness about the dangers of single use plastic is very high.

It was time to Inspire Behaviour Change. It was time to encourage people to eliminate single-use plastic.

The #UnPlasticIndia campaign unleashed three powerful image alarms that simulate the opening of plastic bottles with human hands by twisting open the bottle necks but illustrate how the very act mercilessly kills marine creatures by suffocating them and twisting their necks with human hands. The human arm twisted marine animals asked a simple question looking into your eyes;

Still Using Plastic Bottles?

The mind-blowing, heart-wrenching, soul-stirring image alarms come to life for a few seconds to illustrate the deadly truth of plastic pollution and the human impact on marine animals in the Indian Ocean. These alarming moving images elevate the sheer power of human imagination and are designed to shock and stay with you long after you see them and raise the alarm in your mind and then become a recurring image alarm every time you open a plastic bottle. Stay alarmed and end the habit of using single-use-plastic now.

Indians have stopped paying attention to the clutter of warnings and ‘plastic pollution’ feels distant and irrelevant. “Why should I care? What difference can one bottle make?”

The strategic breakthrough will be to get people to care and share the sentiment of change.

We had to turn ‘plastic pollution’ into a visceral, personal story. Something people couldn’t ignore.

With the UN’s focus on plastic pollution, the Times of India activated the #UnplasticIndia movement on World Environment Day with three powerful image alarms across media that asked a simple question: Still using Plastic Bottles?

Intense reactions and public activation followed with the 21-day national pledge to eliminate single-use-plastic and strategic coastal clean-up drives.

Research has proven that anything done consistently for 21 days can make it a habit for life. The strategy was to instill habitual change in every Indian to stay alarmed and stop before they open another plastic bottle.

#UnplasticIndia unleashed three powerful image alarms across the country on World Environment Day and activated the 21 day national pledge to stop single-use-plastic.

The moving image alarm was vividly demonstrating how the simple act of opening a plastic bottle can mercilessly kill millions of marine animals. Press Alarms, Outdoor Alarms, Mobile Alarms and Daily Alarms on Social Media moved the nation into action with hundreds of plastic waste collection camps and coastal clean-up drives with local NGOs, schools, colleges, housing societies, green influencers and celebrities like United Nations Environmental Ambassadors.

Thousands of tons of plastic waste collected was recycled by various artists into Giant Installation Alarms on popular beaches to highlight the impending plastic threat to marine animals.

The image alarms captured the imagination of the entire nation and created a chain reaction on social media and local and national news channels with millions joining the movement.

A campaign that started by asking a small question changed the nation in a big way.

Over 500,000 Indians have pledged to stop using single-use plastic in less than three months.

Social Media: 71 million+ impressions.

Unique Reach: 31 million+ users.

Views: 14 million+

98% Positive Polarity with exceptional feedback and public commentary.

Beach Clean Up Drives: The campaign resulted in thousands of plastic waste collection centres in coastal areas being activated to ensure immediate action and reach every Indian out there.

Global and Local Chain Reaction: The campaign was shared widely on social media and was featured by the United Nations Environment Programme.

Complaints: The campaign was designed to elicit a reaction. While millions joined the movement, a few leading plastic bottle manufacturers protested against these ads by filing complaints with ASCI India’s advertising regulator and tried very hard to stop the campaign, in vain.