How Using DOOH Helped Fight Plastic Pollution
Our team at AGCS just celebrated the official launch of our winning digital out of home (DOOH) game on London streets in August. Over a year ago, our game pitch was submitted to Ocean Outdoor’s ‘Ocean Digital Creative Competition’ in their special ‘Ocean for Oceans’ category which asked brands to rethink their behaviour around the health of our oceans. The competition was after creative, screen-led ideas that showcased DOOH’s potential to redefine human engagement with media content. After one year, we’re stoked to announce that AGCS’s DOOH game made it to the London Westfield Shopping Center screens and was seen by thousands.
Planning and Realising Our Idea
After brainstorming potential ideas, we came up with the concept of a simple but impactful ocean-cleaning game on behalf of the Plastic Soup Foundation. The team at Plastic Soup is dedicated to educating and lobbying to stop plastic pollution, right at its source. Their research found that we could cover the Netherlands 155 times over with all the un-biodegradable plastic in our oceans. Unlike eco-friendly packaging like paper and cardboard which disintegrates over time, plastic waste never fully breaks down. Rather, it remains in our environment through the form of microplastics – turning our oceans into a plastic soup. This endless wave of plastic became the inspiration for our DOOH game.
The players control a litter-collecting boat through their mobile phones, with the objective being to collect as much plastic as possible. However, the game comes with a twist: it is impossible to win. Just like in our actual oceans, the player is gradually overwhelmed by the endless wave of plastic garbage. The unbeatable game demonstrates to players just how severely our plastic consumption affects the environment to inspire them to make better choices. Additionally, after losing the game, players are redirected to Plastic Soup’s initiative ‘My Little Plastic Footprint’ – an app specifically designed to help reduce daily plastic consumption by analyzing users’ buying habits.
The Results
Today, the game is the result of a year-long collaboration between AGCS, the Plastic Soup Foundation and Ocean Outdoor, and we couldn’t be prouder of the outcome.
When commenting on the game, joint managing director Phil Hall (Ocean Outdoor) stated: “AGCS’ idea delivers an important message in a really creative way which is why it was an Ocean digital creative competition winner.”
Plastic Soup Foundation’s campaigner Laura Díaz Sánchez commented: “The game is such an engaging and playful way to teach people about the plastic waste in our waterways and oceans, what we call plastic soup! The interactive creative has been designed and developed to engage people and deliver a serious message at the same time. We hope people will be inspired to download the app My Little Plastic Footprint and to start reducing their own plastic footprint.”
If you’re looking to reduce your plastic consumption, you should consider downloading the My Little Plastic Footprint app: after analysing your plastic consumption-habits by giving you a quiz on everything related to your plastic purchases, the app will provide you with a plastic diet to follow, where you can monitor your plastic consumption.
