This work is relevant for direct as it was designed as an appeal to New Yorkers, in response to a real-time world issue. The juxtaposition of a unique wildlife species amongst a concrete jungle like New York City was part of the novelty that drove participation worldwide.

It brought a tangible solution to a city so far away, and offered hope to a world that felt so helpless.

The devastation of the recent bushfires put Australia’s wildlife under threat. 1 billion of the nation’s unique wildlife had died with species facing extinction.

Despite being so far away and feeling incredibly helpless, we were compelled to connect New Yorkers to what was happening on the other side of the world.

The objectives of the campaign were to raise awareness around the devastating impact of the bushfires, particularly the Australia wildlife affected and raise money for WIRES (Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service) - the largest wildlife rescue & rehabilitation charity in Australia.

At the crack of dawn on Friday, January 10, 2020, life-sized, plush koala toys were scattered around NYC and positioned in prominent, high-traffic locations all over New York City. Attached to the koalas was the educational message bringing awareness to the 1 billion wildlife affected by the Australian bushfires, a social handle drawing an online community to take part and spread awareness, along with a user-friendly mechanic via a QR code directing folks to the Koalas of NYC GoFundMe page to raise money for WIRES (Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service) - the largest wildlife rescue and rehabilitation charity in Australia.

Plush toys are ‘storytelling mechanisms that teach compassion and empathy.’ As a gateway to consumers, we used plush koalas to instigate a response from our affluent yet time-poor, highly transient New Yorkers and evoke compassion, fulfilling their desire to connect to a helpless situation.

We needed to stop people in their tracks, meaningfully disrupt and make people take notice. With news and media coverage already flooded with images of vast Australian lands burning, devastation and helplessness, we wanted to offer a message of hope. Something tangible that brought the solution within reach.

Attached to the koalas was a tag that communicated the statistic: 1 BILLION OF THE WORLD’S UNIQUE WILDLIFE HAS DIED IN THE AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRES. On the other side, a QR code directing people to a dedicated Gofundme page to spread awareness and raise money for Australia's largest wildlife rescue and rehabilitation charity, WIRES.

72 hours from concept to execution.

Over 100 koalas.

Expanded to over 150 world locations.

On January 10, life-sized, plush koala toys were placed in prominent locations all over the city. Not only lifelike in size and appearance, but their high quality to withstand changing weather conditions made gave the execution longevity and durability.

In just 23 days, the campaign had been championed by fans all over the world. Voluntary celebrity support ranged from Jennifer Aniston to Katie Holmes, Lewis Hamilton to Lewis Capaldi, 150+ news outlets and independent fundraising events worldwide.

To meet global enquiries, we created a DIY platform that showed supporters how to replicate the campaign and produce custom city tags that directed donors to the Koalas of NYC Gofundme page.

With over 140 cities participating and over 1.9 billion people reached, Koalas of NYC went from activation to global advocacy in just 23 days.

Over 1.9 billion people reached.

Over 9.4 million impressions.

A donation target exceeded by 400%

And at the request of one of the nation’s most distinguished institutions, Koalas of NYC has been enshrined in the National Library of Australia as part of the library’s ephemera collection in an effort to capture not just the relief effort, but also the “amazing assistance and support received from across the globe in response to the devastating bushfires.”

With over 140 cities participating, a donation target exceeded by over 400% and over 1.9 billion people reached, Koalas of NYC became a universal symbol of compassion to save the world's most unique animals.