The Solar Justice movement–started by MPOWERD to provide solar-powered light to billions of people living in energy poverty–gains a powerful ally in this PSA produced by design/animation company the STUDIO for agency FCB Garfinkel.
Entitled “Give Luci,” the animated PSA shows a boy named Kiama on his travels to and from school. Kiama loves school and has big dreams. As he heads home from school to have dinner with his family, the sun sets, causing his world to go dark. Kiama’s lack of access to light means he, like millions of other children, cannot read or study at night or do his homework.
Enter Luci, the inflatable solar-powered light by MPOWERD. The video ends with the message “no one’s story should end just because the sun sets” and encourages viewers to give a Luci to households like Kiama’s by visiting mpowerd.com/give. The Give Luci program allows customers to purchase Luci lights (at a discounted rate) that will be sent directly to communities in need through one of MPOWERD’s NGO (non-governmental organization) partners. Every Luci light gives a child more hours to study in the evening. An entrepreneur gains 90 more productive hours a month to increase his or her income. Women feel safer at night. And families no longer have to inhale toxic fumes emitted from indoor kerosene lamps.
For each solar lantern purchased, a home will be illuminated, approximately five lives will be changed for the better, and 320kg of CO2 will be kept out of the atmosphere annually.
Lee Garfinkel, CEO of FCB Garfinkel, said explaining energy poverty is tough when the public isn’t always aware of the problem. “The story of Kiama brings his daily struggle to life and, through the help of the Luci solar-powered light, illustrates how a simple idea can have an incredible impact.”
Mary Nittolo, founder/creative director of the STUDIO, said, “It was a privilege to work on this project and bring not only attention but an affordable solution to an overwhelming problem. Across sub-Saharan Africa, 90 million primary students are without electricity. And, each year, indoor pollution from dirty fuels results in four million deaths. What MPOWERD give is an opportunity to make a modest investment that can be life altering.”
Regarding the STUDIO’s approach to the PSA, Nittolo shared, “Our initial inspiration was the look of traditional shadow puppets, but as we went along we came to feel that we needed to reference more naturalistic animation techniques. The shadow puppets concept would have looked amazing, but we didn’t think it would have made the same connection with viewers. So we ended up with a look that includes a number of influences, including shadow puppets, zoetropes, cut paper animation and even a little bit of Disney.
