We wondered whether some new form of entertainment couldn’t be found in the everyday lives of the animals.

We took the animals’ playthings – old tires and giants balls – and wrapped them in fabric, to make the world’s first animal-made distressed denim jeans.

The design was as simple as it was unique, and resonated with the entire spectrum of zoo visitors – and, more importantly, with young people who were not zoo-goers. Leveraging the natural instincts of the animals captured people’s imagination and gave them a taste of what the zoo has to offer.

The basic idea – designer jeans ripped by animals – was strong enough to garner considerable media coverage and generate buzz.

A press release was dispatched inviting the media to a press conference and launch event held at the zoo.

A high quality “making of” video was released on YouTube, and embedded on a website, which also went live on the day of the launch event.

A Facebook page was created and filled with more behind-the-scenes images, captioned in Japanese and English.

Three pairs of Zoo Jeans were sold at Japan’s most popular online auction.

In the first two weeks of the campaign, Zoo Jeans was featured in major news channels both in Japan and around the world – a total of 745 media. In the same period, social media users mentioned the jeans made by animals in 29,939 posts, reaching a total 38,407,887 people. Furthermore, many people participated in the charity auction, with one pair alone selling for some USD$1,500.00. And the zoo saw a 132% increase in visitors compared with the same period last year.

People saw the zoo in a new light – as a place that offers new form of entertainment.