The WWF Deforests a Football Field to Get Their Point Across

Deforestation and climate change are two topics we hear being talked about very often, and yet global accountability is still far from being achieved. The green movement still remains one of the most important goals of the WWF, who, in order to attract the public’s attention chose to use one of the world’s most famous green spaces: a soccer field in Brazil. The idea is to make the tragic scenario that affects the Brazilian forests real and tangible. Every 4 minutes in Brazil an area equivalent to a football field is deforested. The commercial they created was originally filmed in Portuguese, but has since become a viral sensation internationally.

The creative talents of Grey Brasil have created a visual scenario for WWF, by eliminating the grass that is present on the field during a Women’s National team game between Brazil and Denmark, turning it into a dry stretch of land. Football is a powerful means to get people’s attention. In fact, the special effects do a great job at intriguing the viewer in an original way by taking advantage of a moment of relaxation in which the viewer’s mind is more likely willing to listen to social issues. It’s a shame that they didn’t choose a broader context, a context with even greater visibility.

The advertisement ends with a visual message on TV screens, which is followed up with a call for donations. The idea is just brilliant. The ad certainly worked on me, and it’s not even in english. Overall, the message of this ad is extremely powerful and quite effective; in fact, online visits to the WWF website increased by 73% after the game went viral. Hopefully the awareness will continue to grow.

– Jay Reilly