The brief was to raise awareness toward the Earth’s environmental issues and to promote donations to WWF JAPAN, with low budget. And the target was all Japanese, whose donations per head toward environmental protection is extremely low compared to advanced countries (donations per household are 1/108 of western countries). WWF JAPAN was looking for a new solution that would raise awareness toward environmental issues and provide easier ways to make donations.

The concept was, “If wild animals could ask for help, they may upload selfies like these." And the creative idea was to use 32 animals that are endangered species, as influencers. Against environmentally un-photogenic backgrounds, photos of animals from all over the world were uploaded on Instagram under the project name #ANIMAL_SELFIE. Although the “Selfies” were obviously not shot by the animals, they conveyed the message that the environmental issues are very real, with the influencer animals showing their problematic environments.

WWF JAPAN wanted to propose a new solution that would allow people to think about and make donations toward environmental issues, easily in their everyday lives.

The idea centered on selfies, which everyone has experienced and are popular via SNS all over the world. The concept was, “The kind of selfie wild animals would upload, if they could ask for help.” A new design solution was developed, combining selfies with environmental protection.

The project, #ANIMAL_SELFIE, was conducted, where animals from all over the world upload photos on Instagram, shot against backgrounds of various environmental issues.

The message was, although the selfies are fake, the environmental issues are not fake.

The world’s first donation system utilizing the shopping function on Instagram was also developed. It was a new donation style, selfie × donation, allowing people to donate directly from the animals’ uploads.

With low budget, the campaign spread across various media with 37 million impressions in 3 weeks, reaching 30 million. Donations were 142% of the previous year.

Posters were used at customs controlling illegal imports of wild animals, anime voice-over artists voluntarily uploaded their voices. A pet insurance company showed support, many schools used the visuals as teaching material, and the campaign even received Greenpeace approval, extending the value far beyond numbers.

As a result, the selfie, a symbol of self-expression, also became a symbol for donations, lead to perception and behavior changes among the Japanese, and grew into a long-standing service.