Meanwhile inside the building some other people posing as corporate clients gained access to Y&R and barricaded themselves inside one of their offices. The Police eventually showed up in force and nicked those inside. Which is exactly what they wanted as any charges will bring a nice big PR disaster to Y&R. Nice sunny day for it too….
Corporate advertising campaign swings into action.
"Hello Y&R advertising, how can I help you?"
"Yes we can remove even the toughest enviromental stains."
Y&R employee experiences temporary sense of humour failure.
The polar bear arrives...
...a locates a suitable spot...
...to rapidly become extinct...
...from climate change.
Some cops arrive...
...yet more cops arrive. What is happening inside?
Ah, they seem to be arresting Y&R ad people.
Presumably for missleading the public over Landrover?
** 9am, 1.4.08; for immediate release ***
AD AGENCY Y&R TO LAUNCH CIVILIAN JUMP-JET MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Leading advertising agency Y&R is proud to reveal that it will be
spearheading a major advertising and overall branding campaign for the new
Harrion® Civilian Jump-Jet. The Harrion® - the civilian version of the
Harrier - is the centrepiece of HarrionProjects, the newly-privatised wing
of the UK Ministry of Defence.
The campaign will be modelled on Y&R’s hugely successful work for Land
Rover, which combined rugged locations, spectacular photography and a
prominent claim to ‘offset’ the CO2 produced from the first 45,000 miles
of driving. The company which arranged the offsets, ClimateCare, is also
on board to offer the same service for the Harrion®, (which has an even
healthier thirst than its land-based brother!)
Y&R’s Bernard Donovan said “This is a dream come true for us, and not only
because so many of our lads grew up ogling Harriers back in the Seventies!
Seriously, we see a great future looming for the Harrion®, and we can’t
wait to get out there and help mould public perceptions of it.’
Mimi Santoria of HarrionProjects added ‘There’s nothing to stop the
Harrion® becoming the world’s most iconic personal transportation
solution. And with ClimateCare part of our team, there’s every chance it
will come to be regarded as a zero-emission 21st Century green zeitgeist
machine!’
Mick Martin of ClimateCare said ‘CO2 offsets are literally taking off
throughout the western world. We’re ready to jump into action and carbon
neutralise the Harrion®’s admittedly challenging 0.3 miles per gallon in
the same way as we have for Land Rover. This is our first major deal since
being acquired by JPMorgan, so we really are flying high with the big
boys!’
For interviews, pictures and more information as it happens:
Tel: 07513 341970 or 07513 335777
yr_worldbeaters@yahoo.co.uk or harrion_launchpad@yahoo.co.uk www.fossilfoolsday.org
Press Release form the occupiers:
*** 9am, 1.4.08; for immediate release***
LAND ROVER AD AGENCY OCCUPIED BY LONDON RISING TIDE ON FOSSIL FOOLS DAY
Activists from climate justice direct action group London Rising Tide
(LRT) have occupied the offices of Y&R, the ad agency behind the current
Land Rover campaign, and a new campaign for arms giant BAe Systems. This
is one of many actions taking place worldwide on Fossil Fools Day, a day
of action called by the Rising Tide network. Outside the office, climate
street theatre is also underway.
The LRT activists are posing as executives from a newly-privatised wing of
the MoD called HarrionProjects, a spoof company whose centrepiece is the
Harrion®, a civilian version of the Harrier Jump-Jet. LRT has issued a
spoof press release saying that Y&R has agreed to launch the Harrion®
marketing campaign, and also that ClimateCare, the CO2 offsets company
which is working to ‘offset’ Land Rover emissions, has agreed to do the
same for the Harrion®, even though the Harrion® only manages 0.3mpg.
LRT’s Sam Chase said: ‘It feels good to be joining other climate justice
activists around the world on a day when traditionally the world is turned
upside down. Fossil Fools Day is about using foolery to reveal the
insanity of the current fossil-fuelled market madness, an insanity whose
intensity is stoked to a great extent by the advertising industry.
LRT’s Mimi Santoria added: This is the first time an ad agency has been
targeted by climate justice campaigners – it’s long overdue, and it
certainly won’t be the last.’
For interviews, pictures, a copy of the spoof press release and more
information as it happens:
Tel: 07513 341970 or 07513 335777
london@risingtide.org.uk www.londonrisingtide.org.uk www.fossilfoolsday.org
e-mail:
Comments
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This is what our Y&R leaflet said...
08.04.2008 22:27
YOUR COMPETITORS
- with Y&R!
Hi. We‘re Y&R. We’re worldwide, (and on the 4th floor of this building). We do advertising. We’re damn proud of what we do, and we want you to know it too. Where do we start? With the heart, of course…
Here’s our boss Hamish dealing with the “climate crisis“ in his welcome to the heroic Al Gore last year. “I believe the ad industry can make a real difference in this fight, as we’ve done for countless social issues over the years.”
But what use is a heart without some serious competitive edge?
We do Land Rover: We’ve turned Land Rover into the most rugged eco-icon this side of Leo DiCaprio. (Actually, we also have to congratulate ClimateCare for helping pull off the toughest rebranding challenge known to man, by offering to ‘officially’ offset every new Land Rover by 45,000 miles. If it wasn’t for those green-with-envy would-be cave dwellers from Carbon Trade Watch, no one would be questioning the sanity or effectiveness of carbon offsetting!)
We do BAe Systems: ‘Challenge’ is our middle name, so we seized the chance to work with BAe, the UK’s biggest arms manufacturer. We’re about to go live with our new BAe campaign, which proves that no one can slap on a coat of whitewash (or greenwash for that matter) like Y&R. You got a ‘reputational issue’ lurking in the cupboard? You know where to turn. (Just don’t let those drippy liberal pundits start asking about dodgy Middle Eastern arms deals, the humungous carbon footprint of the world’s military or the annoying fact that BAe’s products happen to kill people!)
And we do Chevron, Virgin and Bayer: world-beaters all! We don’t usually like to blow our own trumpet – that’s not our style. But on a day like today, it just felt right to blow away (the competition!)
Y&R: without us, capitalism would be in a right mess!
Let us know what you think: y&
www.fossilfoolsday.org
GREENWASH & GO BEYOND
YOUR COMPETITORS
- with Y&R!
Jack Tirade
This is what our letter to Y&R staff said...
08.04.2008 22:43
We hope you’ll forgive our reaching out to you in this somewhat unorthodox manner. The thing is, we believe that business in the 21st Century has to create a new paradigm, as much in our inter-communications as in the way we have to embed sustainability at the foundation stone of our ethos.
“So who are we?” you might well be wondering. Well, we’re what you might call the creative advance guard for a very exciting (and still pretty hush-hush!) new, green-hued profit-making opportunity. Cutting to the chase, we’re from HarrionProjects, the just-privatised wing of the UK Ministry of Defence, and we have the thrill and the honour to be able to ask you guys at Y&R to lend an uber-talented hand to us as we launch our centrepiece brand:
The Harrion® Civilian Jump-Jet
If a Humvee can be reborn as a Hummer, then why can’t a Harrier come back to life as a Harrion®? (And it’s a British product, dammit – more or less). Let’s face it, we’re a perfect match. You turned Land Rover into the most rugged eco-icon this side of Leo DiCaprio (Actually, we also have to congratulate ClimateCare for helping pull off the toughest rebranding challenge known to man, by offering to ‘officially’ offset every new Land Rover by 45,000 miles. Luckily, ClimateCare (or shall we say JPMorgan?!) is already on board to offset the first 150,000 Harrion® miles. They didn’t even bat an eyelid when we told them the Harrion® ran at 0.3 miles per gallon! If it wasn’t for those green-with-envy would-be cave dwellers like Carbon Trade Watch, no one would be questioning the sanity or effectiveness of carbon offsetting. Anyway, the ad industry has a few more pennies in its pocket than these tree-huggers, so the public need never know how much wool is being pulled over its eyes in the space of a 30-second prime-time slot!)
Even better, you guys are about to go live with your new BAe Systems campaign, (which we’re dying to see, by the way – you must be really proud of it). It just shows that you know how to add an ethical patina to brands with - shall we say the occasional reputational issue lurking in the cupboard. (Just don’t let those drippy liberal pundits start asking about dodgy Middle Eastern arms deals, the humungous carbon footprint of the world’s military or the annoying fact that BAe’s products happen to kill people!)
But getting back to the jet-propelled matter-in-hand: male ABC1 brand recognition of the Harrier Jump-Jet stands at 77.7%. So that makes launching the Harrion® a walk in the proverbial park, (that is, with some help from that super-mysterious BrandAsset® Valuator of yours!) We’d love to see you on board. In fact, we’re so convinced you’ll be up for it that we’ve leaked the news to a few of our most trusted journalistic colleagues. We hope you don’t mind – our excitement sort of got the better of us!
Lastly, and on a more serious note, we were deeply moved when we read your boss Hamish’s introduction to Al Gore last year, especially when he said in relation to the ‘climate crisis’ that “I believe the ad industry can make a real difference in this fight, as we’ve done for countless social issues over the years.” That’s exactly how we feel about it. And we know that with your in-house powerhouse of expertise, the Harrion® will come to be regarded as a zeitgeister of a low-impact 21st Century travel solution.
Oh, by the way, let us know if you’d like a spin one of these days. It makes Concorde feel like a milk float!
Love, Jack, Sam and Mimi from the Harrion® Launchpad team
Chat to us: 07513 341970 or 07513 335777
Mail us:
www.fossilfoolsday.org
Jack Tirade