Over 80% of the worlds fish stocks are in crisis because of unsustainable fishing practices and because of the continued purchase of fish caught by these practices.

WWF wanted to change this and so did Loblaw, Canada’s largest grocery retailer. So together they made a commitment.

By the end of 2013 all the seafood in Loblaw stores will be required to come from sustainable sources. This is not only a world-leading operational transformation it is industry-changing. It means more than just a change at the fish counter. Anything containing seafood will be affected, even the cat food. So if suppliers want to have their products on the shelves of Canada’s largest grocer, they have to change the way they fish.

This will have an immense positive impact on our oceans and we needed to get the word out to consumers so they know that through their buying power they can support sustainable seafood.

To highlight the scope of the commitment (even the fish in the cat food) we harnessed the power of cat videos and with a limited budget created an online video featuring Norman: the eco warrior, the cat who eats only sustainably sourced fish.

Within weeks the video had tons of media attention and Norman was everywhere, from mainstream media outlets to some the biggest hubs on the Internet. Norman was getting the word out about making positive environmental choices and the important commitment Loblaw was making to our oceans.

The video was created on an incredibly short timeline and with a limited budget. It was posted on YouTube and featured on the WWF Facebook page.

Using only internal resources the video was shared with the media and dropped in the inboxes of anyone who we thought might talk about it.

• Output/Awareness:

The video has received over 250,000 views and was featured in multiple newspapers and on tons of websites impressions garnering a total of over 4 million media impressions.

Achieving both the goal of raising awareness of the commitment by Loblaw and the goal of raising awareness of the issues facing our oceans.