In France, the tradition is that on April 1, we stick fish in people’s backs without their knowledge to make a joke. But within 50 years there will be more plastic waste than fish in the oceans. And that’s no joke. For Sea Shepherd it is urgent to act.

The objective: to raise awareness of plastic pollution in the oceans, to encourage them to take action by changing their consumption habits and to mobilize to engage them surroundings.

We hacked into the April Fool’s tradition ("April Fish’s" tradition in french "Poisson d'avril") by creating the "Pollution d'avril "movement (April Pollution). On April 1, Sea Shepherd invited the general public to show their commitment to single-use plastics in their everyday lives, posting a photo of him on social media with plastic waste on his back, instead of a fish, with the hashtag #pollutiondavril #seashepherd

A film was shared organically on the networks. Produced mainly with images recovered on social networks or via video banks, it presented the social operation and encouraged the public to participate in the process.

A press release slipped into a recovered plastic bottle was sent in parallel to a press and influencer target to present in detail the operation and the commitments of the NGO in favor of the oceans. 

We decided to address the general public, through social networks and by making spin-offs around the operation. We used the social networks of the NGOs only and capitalized on the press and influencer relations as well as the UGC carried out by the general public to give visibility to our operation.

A low-cost operation, designed to be as economical as possible and with 0% waste production.

The film was produced casi exclusively with images recovered from social networks

or via video banks.

The content is 100% viral, no media purchase has been made: Post on the NGO’s Facebook page, video on Youtube and on Sea Shepherd’s Instagram account. Activation of media relations to encourage them to communicate about the operation.

More than 30 press and TV mentions

More than 700 Pollutions d’avril posted on instagram, facebook or twitter

Over 30,000,000 impressions