Challenge
Up to 95% of Japanese people very rarely or never eat whale meat. However, Japan has an annual self-allocated kill quota of 52 minke whales, 150 Bryde’s whales and 25 sei whales. WDC wanted to use the 2019 Rugby World Cup as an opportunity to highlight the country’s continued hunting of whales – a practice which is out of step with the rest of the world.
Solution
Greenhouse led on the strategic planning and coordination of a high impact and sharable #StopWhaling campaign. We worked with an illustrator and videographer to establish a creative direction and produce graphics, videos and GIFs that focused on celebrating Japan, rugby and whales in an eye-catching and unique way.
Result
The campaign hashtag generated a total of 13.9 million impressions and reached over 3.8 million users. Social media activity drove increased traffic to WDC’s landing page and website (4,500 users). During the campaign period, we attracted 400 new followers across WDC's channels and more than 2,000 people pledged their love for Japan and whales.
Impact
The #StopWhaling campaign had a strong visual identity that helped cut through the noise of the Rugby World Cup. The campaign increased awareness of whaling in Japan, recruited followers to WDC social platforms and put pressure on Japan’s decision-makers by demonstrating that whaling is bad for tourism and their international reputation.
