Bring Back Blue - A Particulate Matter
The Valley of the Sun is, geographically speaking, a depression. And that’s exactly the feeling residents and visitors get when they gaze upon the growing layer of crud that hangs over them. Phoenix, the cultural and economic center of one of the fastest-growing areas in the United States, is somewhere under a cloud of pollutants that’s jeopardizing the health of its citizens and hampering the city’s expansion prospects. And it’s not just Phoenicians who are fed up. The federal government is watching and threatening to withhold highway funds unless county skies get bluer in a hurry.
For such a huge issue, the root of Phoenix’s problem is microscopic, and that’s precisely why it’s so dangerous. Particulates, or miniscule flecks of dust, dirt, smoke and soot, come from all walks of life—cars, wood fires, construction sites—and mix together to form a perfect recipe for a host of lung ailments. Something had to be done before the “I moved to Phoenix and all I got was this chronic bronchitis” t-shirts started appearing en mass. Maricopa County needed to raise awareness of the issue in order get Phoenicians thinking and acting blue. For this, they called on Park&Co after witnessing the great success of another P&C consumer awareness campaign, Water – Use It Wisely.
Research found that air quality ranked as only the fourth most important issue in the minds of Phoenicians, despite being the greatest risk to their health. Valley residents were aware of high pollution levels and felt partially responsible, but few thought there was any hope of reversing the trend toward brown. Park&Co’s Bring Back Blue campaign directly addressed these attitudes, giving citizens a call to action that would get them thinking positively about the future and give them an active role in shaping it.
First, Bring Back Blue needed a symbol. After much heavy breathing, the agency concluded that nothing epitomized the health issues of polluted air better than a dusk mask. So dust masks (big dust masks) were employed to hammer home the seriousness of particulate pollution and foreshadow a potentially bleak future for Valley health and fashion if the brown cloud wasn’t brought down. Print and outdoor ads wrapped the mask across a panorama of the Valley skyline enveloped in a skuzzy layer of crud. Newspaper strip ads wrapped it over some of the worst particulate contributors, such as cars, leaf blowers, ATVs and chimneys. Headlines spoke to both the visual and respiratory unpleasantness of particulate pollution with the line “It’s enough to take your breath away.” TV and radio spots put faces and voices to those whose health is most affected by airborne particulates: children and seniors. Asthmatic kids dreamed of how great it would be to play outside without getting sick. An elderly man with bronchitis comments on how ironic it is that he moved to the Valley years ago precisely for the clean air.
Each ad execution pointed the reader to the campaign website, bringbackblue.org, to learn more about what creates the brown cloud, the health problems it creates, and the simple actions each of us can take to clean it up. The twelve simple actions were branded “The Dirty Dozen” and given top billing on the website and in posters and handouts.
The awareness created by the Bring Back Blue campaign was tangible. The topic of air quality jumped from number four to the top environmental concern among Phoenicians. Now for the next step: the county is devising a plan for submission to the EPA that’ll reduce particular matter by 5% annually until Maricopa County reaches federal standards. With the help of Bring Back Blue, caring about air quality has become fashionable and, before long, blue will be the new brown.
PARK’S MARKETING MORAL: Emotion trumps beauty every time.