In a cab last night I was so excited that on my little cab TV there was an banner ad for ‘Hopenhagen’. When I pressed the screen we were shown a beautiful ad on taking action to make the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) more successful, so I looked into it this morning. I knew that Tim Brown had blogged about ‘Living Climate Change’, an initiative at IDEO connected with the Hopenhagen campaign. Until today when I found this article on FastCompany.com I was not sure how to get involved. Since reading the article I’ve signed the petition and become an official ‘citizen’ of Hopenhagen, posted the news to my Facebook page and Twitter, created my Hopenhagen ‘passport’ which accumulates points as I take even more action over the next 48 days before the summit. Love it!
It’s a brilliant way to attract global support for the cause. I don’t know if you’re like me, but I feel bombarded with climate change information to the point where I’m less likely to take any call to action. Ok, the sea level will rise and we’ll perish. The US produces more CO2 than a zillion countries combined. What can individuals really do to make an impact, besides drive a hybrid car or use mass transit? The Hopenhagen campaign created by OgilvyEarth uses beautiful imagery to create brand awareness for the cause. Their social media applications interact with supporters on a personal level, and makes us feel that we can actually do something about this that will make a difference. Plus it’s fun to play the accumulating-points-on-your-passport game (at least I think so).
Climate change is a slow-moving, ongoing phenomenon that does not lend itself well to encouraging urgent action. Using the COP15 summit in December as the deadline, this campaign has connected the various supporters of climate change and has the potential to engage the disinterested and climate-weary. A few global brands (like Coke below) are incorporating messages about Hopenhagen in their marketing materials, which I imagine will get the word out.
