The SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation is a Brazilian non-profit organization, working towards the protection of the Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica). We found that environmental campaigns often generated a strong sense of rejection, guilt and hopelessness on the part of the public. SOS Mata Atlântica was in great need of a new approach to get its message not only heard, but also shared. We suggested a change in attitude in a simple, fun and positive way. The insight of the campaign consists in reducing the use of water, inviting the public to adhere to the habit of peeing in the shower. Avoiding at least one flush per day, one saves up to 12 liters, which represents 4,380 liters of water per year. Instead of resorting to the degradation of the environment and causing a feeling of guilt, the campaign had a posture that brought positivity into people’s daily lives.

In April, nine print ads and a 30’’ spot were launched as an invitation to the Foundation’s annual event ‘Viva a Mata’ to learn about how peeing in the shower could help protect the environment. The campaign officially launched in May during ‘Viva a Mata’. After the event, we launched new ads, including one that we called “directions”. This ad explained why such a serious entity would be asking people to engage in this weird ecological practice and how this simple act could help the Atlantic Forest. Also, it answered some frequently asked questions so nobody would be confused. A new 45’’ film, “Convocation”, and a website, www.xixinobanho.org.br, were also launched.The idea behind using Internet tools to spread our message was killer. The film obtained a surprising number of views on YouTube and the campaign as a whole, an enormous amount of citations on blogs and social medias.Unprecedented results for the Foundation.

The campaign was originally aimed at the Brazilian public only but it generated buzz all over the world in more than 66 countries, in 5 continents.The campaign website had more than 450,000 unique visitors from May 2009 to March 2010.Since the video launch on YouTube it has had almost 1 million views.In Brazil, the campaign appeared, as spontaneous media, in all major news shows in both free and pay TV.There was also a great buzz in newspapers, magazines and blogs and news related websites. Internationally, major newspapers, TV news shows and websites discussed the campaign: Le Monde, The New York Times, AOL, The Guardian and China Daily. The investment in media and promotion was literally zero and the estimated return, in spontaneous media was US$700.767,73 in print, US$4.494.120, 53 in TV and US$15.447.189,10 in digital.Total estimated media return: US$20.642.189,36.The campaign had zero investment and obtained R$ 40 million in spontaneous media.