The Woolmark Company’s environmentally focused new global brand campaign “Wear Wool, Not Fossil Fuel” aims to educate consumers about the hidden impact of synthetic fabrics on the environment and how choosing natural fibers such as wool can be a solution to reducing fashion’s negative impact. Featuring a series of powerful visual messages that highlights the link between synthetic fabric and the crude oil used in its manufacture and the inherent eco-benefits of merino wool, the work is tailored to film and OOH, with initial media scheduled in the US, UK, France and Australia for September. 
 
The campaign has been written and produced in creative collaboration among Park Village, 20something, and Studio Birthplace (consisting of directors Sil Van Der Woerd & Jorik Dozy) whose award winning portfolio includes its recent Cannes Lions and D&AD winning work “Wasteminster: A Downing Street Disaster” for Greenpeace U.K. 
 
The centerpiece of The Woolmark campaign–which runs this month across the U.S., U.K., France and Australia–is this 60 second hero film (directed by Van Der Woerd & Dozy), showing people struggling to escape an oil-filled swimming pool, based on the insight that every 25 minutes, an Olympic pool’s worth of crude oil is used to produce synthetic clothing, which amounts to almost 350 million barrels a year. 

Fran Docx, strategy partner, 20something, said, “Back in 1980, our wardrobes were filled with natural materials like cotton, wool and cashmere. These natural materials made up 60% of the market, far outstripping the relatively new polyester and polyamide alternatives. The rise of fast fashion, Instagram outfit culture and turbocharged consumerism has seen a wholesale shift in what lurks in our wardrobes. We rarely make a wider ecological connection between clothes, the fibers they’re made of, and the impact on the planet. Our ambition for our work with The Woolmark Company, is to address that and raise awareness of the alternatives to synthetic fabrics.” 
 
In a joint statement, directors Van Der Woerd and Dozy shared, “We’re in the middle of a climate emergency and as filmmakers we believe it is our responsibility to tell the most important stories of our time. To make the invisible visible. Did you know that about 70% of all clothes today are made from synthetics? That’s another word for oil. We’re literally wearing oil. The fast fashion industry uses 2.5 million liters of it every 25 minutes. Big numbers like these are often hard to comprehend and therefore we struggle to connect with them. Using film to visualize big data in ways we can relate to it will help us come to grip with the reality of our consumer culture. Change starts with awareness and with every film or piece of content we create, we push to work towards a more sustainable future for our planet.”

Credits

Client The Woolmark Company Agency 20something Will Thacker, creative director; Elliott Starr, creative/copywriter; Fran Docx, strategy partner; Lauren Havard, producer. Production Company Park Village  Studio Birthplace (Sil Van Der Woerd & Jorik Dozy, directors, creatives; Adam Booth, exec producer; Lennert Hillege, DP. Production Services Company Silver Lining Films SA Renier Ridgeway, service producer; Arlene Wentzel, production designer; Lewis Munro, wardrobe designer. VFX Tim Smit, VFX supervisor. SFX MXFX Max Poolman Postproduction Company Dead Pixel Color No 8 London Alex Gregory, colorist. Audio & Music Production Ambit Sound

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