No Home Is Safe in Wieden + Kennedy's Intriguing, Interactive Climate Change Ad

It's a familiar environmentalist argument—we all have to live on this planet, so we might not want to completely destroy it. But newly rebranded Danish power company Ørsted is taking up that mantle in a clever new interactive film from Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam to roll out its vision for a world run entirely on green energy. The website invites users to describe what "home" means to them by filling in three fields with a series of predetermined words, in a sort of advertising mad lib. It offers metaphors and feelings ranging from the spiritual to the mundane—oasis, foundation, refuge, town, privacy, grateful, lonely, needed, musical, serene, safe, content, awesome, crowded, cool, exciting, paradise and maintained, among others. Once that's done, the film opens with a happy montage of people around the world enjoying their various abodes, as the voiceover coos the phrases a user has selected. But before long, the soothing tone fades, as the voiceover begins to awkwardly repeat itself, and the footage grows more sinister. Scenes of happy families, puppy cuddles and peaceful living-room meditations give way to raging hurricanes and tornados, shellshocked residents wandering through flood wreckage, and wildfires blazing across forests. Eventually, the frame cuts to a view of Planet Earth from outer space. "Our home is at risk," says the voiceover. "Today, over 80 percent of the world's energy comes from fossil fuels." "But there's hope," it continues, over pictures of gentle oceans, solar panels and wind farms. "For the first time in history, green energy is cheaper than black." See the trailer for the interactive film here: [kickout id="1"] Ørsted has been working to transform itself from a power provider based on burning fossil fuels to one based on building and running offshore wind farms. It has reduced its use of coal, for example, by 73 percent since 2006, and plans to abandon it altogether by 2023—the same year it expects to have cut its carbon emissions by 96 percent. It sold its oil and gas holdings this fall. And just last month, it changed its name—leaving behind its previous life as Dong Energy—to mark the shift. Overall, the idea is to make the threat of global warming, which can often seem abstract or geographically distant, feel more immediate and emotionally gripping. Extreme weather events are a good vehicle for that, given the absurd (and increasing) frequency with which they're hitting. And to that end, the interactive approach makes for an ingenious little strategy. Forcing the viewer's participation in the choice of language (tantamount to actually speaking it) immediately makes the exercise and message more invested (or to use the preferred industry verbiage, engaging), especially around such a loaded and deeply personal subject as the meaning of home. That, naturally, assuming the viewer is willing to even bother jumping through the site's hoops in the first place. (The current state of environmental affairs would perhaps suggest that many are not.) It's also worth noting that it's not just the ad's voiceover that changes with the word choice: The website serves different footage based on the words selected. Some of the descriptors do work better in context than others, but the site does smartly preclude random words, like, say, banana. "While it's important to send the message that climate change is happening, it often makes people feel apathetic," says Filip Engel, senior director of branding at Ørsted. The new ad, he argues, "shows what we're capable of if we dare to set a goal and pursue it." "This has been among the most professionally challenging, and the most creatively rewarding, projects our team has ever been involved in," says Sean Condon, creative director at W+K, "which I guess is kind of appropriate given that it's intended as nothing short of a message designed to save humanity." While that might be claiming a bit too much credit, the ad is certainly a strong showing in the right direction. CREDITS Ørsted Jakob Askou Bøss: Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy & Stakeholder Relations Filip Engel: Senior Director, Sustainability Public Affairs & Branding, Group Support Troels Bjørn Thorn: Head of Corporate Branding, Group Stakeholder Relations Rikke Tolstrup: Lead Brand Consultant, Campaign Research, Dev. and Execution, Group Support Laura Jul: Lead Digital Brand Consultant, Campaign Research, Dev. and Execution, Group Support Peter James Andrews, Brand Consultant: Campaign Research, Dev. and Execution Group Support Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam Managing Director: Blake Harrop Executive Creative Director: Eric Quennoy / Mark Bernath Creative Director: Sean Condon / Joe Burrin Art Director: Henrik Edelbring Copywriter: Toby Moore Interactive Designer: Kevin Yaun Head of Broadcast Production: Joe Togneri Director of Interactive Production: Kelsie Van Deman / Monique Richards Interactive Producer: Caitlin DeAngelis / Morgan Mendel / Annatruus Bakker Planner: Stephane Missier Communications Planner: Jocelyn Reist Senior Account Director: Eleanor Thodey Account Director: Luke Purdy Account Manager: Kristina Jorgensen/Margot Paquien Project Manager: Cory Chonko Business Affairs: Kacey Kelly / Michael Graves Film & Interactive Production Production Company: Tool of North America Director: Ben Tricklebank Managing Partner: Dustin Callif Managing Partner: Oliver Fuselier EP, Integrated: Joshua Greenberg EP, Innovation: Adam Baskin Post Supervisor: Tracy Bunting Producer, Live Action: Dawn Rose Producer, Innovation: Jean Chang Producer, Post: Shelli Jury Creative Director: Josh Jetson Creative Director: Ben Priddy Interactive Designer: Spencer Fink AI Specialist: Sabri Sansoy Developer: Nick Jones Editing Company: Spot Welders Manging Director: David Glean EP: Carolina Padilla Producer: Jessica Davis Editor: Michael Heldman Cutting Assistant: Robinson Eng Music Artist / Title: Robert Koch , Composer Music & SFX: Mophonics EP: Colette Huemer Audio Engineer: Hansdale Hsu Music & SFX: Ambassadors Producer: Zoë de Regt Owner/Sound Engineer: Rens Pluijm Post Production: Shipping & Handling Managing Director: David Glean EP: Scott Friske Producer: Dustin LaForce Flame Artists: Anthony Petitti / James Buongiorno Post Production: Shed Producer: Amy Refern Colorist: Sam Ziaie Interactive Production Production Company: Nickel Media Founder: Jason Nickel Team Lead: Greg Webber

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No Home Is Safe in Wieden + Kennedy's Intriguing, Interactive Climate Change Ad

Danish power company makes the case for green energy

Gabriel Beltrone

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