To Protect and Save

Paul Newman is the pitchman for Eisner Communications image campaign for The Nature Conservancy.

The ad effort, the first for the international conservation group, began Sunday with “Hand-in-Hand,” a television spot depicting scenes of unsurpassed natural beauty.

In each, a nature lover—fly fisherman, horseback rider, swimmer—holds up a sign indicating “7 strip malls,” “1 factory,” “4 office buildings,” “1 landfill,” as Newman says, “While progress should never come to a halt, there are many places it should never come to at all.”

Each individual then holds up a second sign completing the original message: “will never be here.”

“Conservation messages tend to focus on the negative consequences of neglecting the environment,” said Steve Etzine, creative director at the Baltimore shop.