WWF Japan: #ANIMAL_SELFIE

WWF JAPAN wanted to propose a new solution that would allow people to think about and make donations toward environmental issues, easily in their everyday lives. The idea centered on selfies, which everyone has experienced and are popular via SNS all over the world.
Agency: ADK Creative One Japan/CHERRY

The concept was, "The kind of selfie wild animals would upload, if they could ask for help." A new design solution was developed, combining selfies with environmental protection. The project, #ANIMAL_SELFIE, was conducted, where animals from all over the world upload photos on Instagram, shot against backgrounds of various environmental issues. The world’s first donation system utilizing the shopping function on Instagram was also developed. It was a new donation style, selfie x donation, allowing people to donate directly from the animals’ uploads. The campaign spread across various media with 37 million impressions in 3 weeks, reaching 30 million. Donations were 142% of the previous year. Posters were used at customs controlling illegal wild-animal import, anime voice-over artists voluntarily uploaded their voices, a pet-insurance company showed support, many schools used these as teaching material, and the campaign even received Greenpeace approval, extending the value far beyond numbers. As a result, the selfie, a symbol of self-expression, also became a symbol for donations, lead to perception and behavior changes among the Japanese, and grew into a long-standing service.