‘Let’s stop something catastrophic before it starts’: Emotive calls on marketing industry support in major pro-bono campaign
Sydney-based indie creative agency Emotive has unveiled a major campaign, collaborating with the team behind the award-winning Deep Rising documentary, to take action against deep sea mining and the dangers it poses to the world’s ecosystem.
Speaking exclusively to Mumbrella, Simon Joyce, CEO of the agency, Matthieu Rytz, director and producer of Deep Rising, and Laura Clarke, head of impact at Deep Rising explained why they’re launching a call-to-arms to Australia’s media and marketing industry, and how, collectively, we can prevent this ecological destruction before it even takes place.
The documentary, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last year, explores the global corporations and organisations who want to mine the Pacific Ocean’s deep seabed for profit. They want to mine metals including nickel and cobalt that they claim will help us transition to a ‘green revolution’ – but in turn, will destroy a fragile underwater ecosystem, the size of Europe.
“I started working on this in 2018, when deep seabed mining wasn’t in any mainstream media,” Rytz told Mumbrella.
“I got some privileged information when I was working on my previous film with the Government of Kiribati, and I heard about the story, and quickly I realised I was opening this Pandora’s box. Most people are unaware that the seabed is the largest carbon sink on the planet – it regulates our climate and it’s under serious threat.”
Clarke, who co-founded the Palau Pledge in 2017, said the area is one of the last pristine ecosystems in the world, and that the deep sea supports all life on earth. She said that the film and impact campaign asks the “vital” questions, “are we ready to repeat history by plundering another pristine ecosystem for profit? Have we been greenwashed by these corporations saying we must do this to transition to green energy, when in reality there are alternative technologies that will allow us to transition without even more harmful extraction?”
Joyce told Mumbrella the first phase is creating initial awareness, and communicating the agency’s involvement in the project. As part of this, Emotive is urging the media and marketing industry to get behind the campaign by donating ad space, editorial or broadcast support.
“There are 130,000 people in Australia’s media and marketing community. At the very least, we aim to raise awareness within the industry whilst also rallying them to support this incredible cause. It’s a remarkable opportunity to prevent something catastrophic before it even begins.”
The goal is AU$5 million in donated media globally, which Joyce acknowledged is a “big mission”.
“I am hoping we can do better than that given how important this campaign is. Ultimately the more awareness we can create, the more action will be taken through the campaign and that will be a big win” he said.
The second phase of the impact work is based around the fact that under United Nations Law, the seabed in international waters is “the common heritage of humankind”.
Set to launch in June, the world-first campaign, which Emotive will lead strategy and creative for, is designed to give people across the world agency over the decisions currently being made about the future of the seabed by a select few.
All donated media spend will help raise awareness of this important cause globally.
As part of phase one, Emotive engaged Australian artist and musician Reg Mombassa, known for his work with iconic Aussie brand Mambo, to create a mural on the side of its Coogee office, to signal its commitment to the cause and bring local awareness to the issue of deep sea mining.
Joyce said the agency wanted to find an artist whose style is instantly recognisable, and the moment Mombassa was raised as an option, it was a “no brainer”. When Emotive moved to its Coogee office, the agency didn’t just want to “be a cool creative agency by the beach”, but be a beacon for creativity in the community, he explained.
Reg Mombassa’s mural
“We can’t give [Reg] enough credit. The cause immediately resonated with him and he’s been so generous to give us his time, commission the piece and allow us to apply it to the side of our building,” he told Mumbrella.
“We want to inspire more creativity and attract more creative businesses to this beachside community. The mural wall is a big part of that and getting someone with Reg’s reputation is wonderful for us and wonderful for the Deep Rising campaign.”
Clarke described Mombassa’s work as a “exceptional commentary” on the real threat deep seabed mining poses to humanity, and a reminder of what could happen if we proceed without questioning the motives behind it.
“What we stand for [at Deep Rising] is a transition to a truly green regenerative energy future, not a future that is dependent on the destruction of our planetary ecosystems in order to achieve a transition, because that’s actually the same paradigm that got us into this mess in the first place,” she said.
Rytz told Mumbrella: “Around 80% of China’s domestic EV market doesn’t touch a gram of nickel, cobalt or manganese, proving that these companies do not need the stuff they want to dig up in the seabed.
“The work is a statement to not repeat history, and to do things differently, in a way we haven’t before,” he finished.
Parties interested in lending their support and donating media should contact simonjoyce@emotive.com.au or michaelhogg@emotive.com.au.
Keep an eye on Mumbrella for the full feature with the Deep Rising team on the pro-bono campaign later this week.
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Lauren McNamara is a journalist at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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topics
Deep Rising
deep seabed mining
emotive
Jason Momoa
Laura Clarke
Matthieu Rytz
pro bono
Simon Joyce
‘Deep Rising’ was a really amazing film. Props to the fimmakers.
When that sea monster came up out of the toilet seat and sucked the woman down into the pipe, I clapped.
RIP Treat Williams though.
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