In November 2019, we launched the “Fight Forever Chemicals” campaign alongside the release of our film Dark Waters to draw the attention of consumers, companies and governments to the modern-day implications of the quiet proliferation of dangerous PFAS, or “forever chemicals.” Dark Waters tells the story of how this scandal was uncovered by Rob Bilott, a corporate defense attorney-turned-environmental hero who has since dedicated his life to protecting communities from industrial pollution.

Our work around many key issues — including equity, institutional accountability, public health, and protecting our planet — is far from over. Especially today, storytelling is among the most powerful tools to help drive positive change. Guided by artists who see around corners, in lockstep with impact partners who champion progress on the ground, and inspired by the work of heroes like Rob Bilott, we will continue to work toward building a more just, equitable future for all.

Corporate chemical giants have produced and proliferated dangerous forever chemicals for decades. As a result, these chemicals are estimated to be in the blood of 99 percent of humans worldwide. And though companies like Dupont and 3M knew early on that forever chemicals caused cancer, birth defects, and other health problems, they continued to produce them for decades.

In 2019, there was no enforceable regulation in the United States restricting forever chemicals, and laws in Europe were inadequate. These chemicals are found in water around the world, and in thousands of everyday consumer products including cookware, cosmetics, food packaging, and upholstery. Knowing there was insufficient regulation, minimal awareness of the dangers of forever chemicals, and activist fatigue, we designed a campaign with partners that would raise the public profile of this invisible threat and create greater demand for stronger government protections.

This campaign set out to make forever chemicals and the systems that proliferated them visible and undeniable to key consumers and regulatory officials in the US and Europe. By mounting an impact campaign alongside the narrative feature film Dark Waters, we leveraged the movie’s attention and star power to widen the spotlight and sound the alarm on the modern implications of this story: forever chemicals are in countless every-day products and contaminate water in communities around the world. We also worked to deliberately re-brand the term PFAS to “forever chemicals,” a term that is at once more indelible in the mind of consumers while also underscoring the permanence of the issue. Mark Ruffalo’s impassioned words at the end of the film, “we protect us,” served as a rallying cry which we carried into the digital campaign, asking audiences to enroll in our campaign to protect themselves and their communities.

Our impact campaign shifted behavior and affected policy by targeting two key audiences: consumers and policymakers. We urged consumers in the US and Europe to stop purchasing products made with forever chemicals and to raise their voices to demand that forever chemicals be stopped. We held events in statehouses, Washington D.C., UK Parliament, and European Parliament and facilitated community events that brought constituents out to hear from their representatives.

Our key performance indicators against these objectives included introduction or passage of regulations against forever chemicals at international, national and local levels; public commitments by companies phasing out forever chemicals; a measurable increase in news stories about forever chemicals; the participation of key government officials in campaign events in target regions; the recruitment of notable influencers to the cause; significant growth of the subscriber base of our partners; and an increase in participation of new community-members from highly-affected populations.

The campaign was executed between November 2019 and December 2020. During this time, we built a strategic coalition of partners consisting of experts, non-profits, and campaign ambassadors to reach lawmakers and constituents. We brought Mark Ruffalo together with community leaders, lawmakers, and press. We put pressure on government and industry at high-level events in the US and Europe. We drove constituent action in highly-affected states where activists were desperate to gain the attention of lawmakers and the public.

The campaign continues to be scaled up by organizations and individuals, reaching thousands of new community-members from highly-affected groups. We provided a toolkit to empower partners to host their own events and activities, resulting in two nationwide screening + panel series, totaling 30 events across the US, including many co-hosted by lawmakers. We’ve also helped to build our partners’ storytelling capacity to re-localize the film’s message in the context of their communities.

The campaign is directly responsible for…

13 bills introduced/impacted as a direct result of the campaign

32 multinational companies pledged to remove PFAS in products and supply chains

EU Commission on chemicals announces a total ban on PFAS in the EU

9,400 attendees at 38 special screenings + panels worldwide

=279 press hits relating to the campaign’s work or its outcomes

62% increase in mentions of the term “forever chemicals”

44% increase in awareness around specific forever chemicals

195K unique page views for fightforeverchemicals.com

63.4K emails and tweets to legislators

11.6K consumer guides downloaded

17.3K people took action to contact their legislators in the U.S.

7,603 people have taken action to demand that Congress protect military families from PFAS

433 people pledged to vote for clean water in every election

10,000 Britons petition supermarkets to stop PFAS

New anti-PFAS champion in UK Parliament