‘Smoggys’, P2 masks created by Wavemaker and Ogilvy team members, in production to fundraise for RFS
Young talent from Wavemaker and Ogilvy have begun producing and selling Smoggys, a brand of P2 pollution masks created to raise money for the Rural Fire Service.
After exceeding the $10,000 Go Fund Me target, Wavemaker’s Bec Drummond and Marco Del Castillo and Ogilvy’s Jack Burton and Lucas Fowler have opened pre-orders for $20 masks adorned with ‘bin chickens’ or koalas. Ogilvy Sydney and Wavemaker Australia each donated $1,275 to get the project off the ground.
The koala design is one of two available for pre-order
The idea to create the patterned P2 masks, which help to limit exposure to toxic smoke and particles, came about after Australians started wearing masks to combat inhalation of bushfire smoke and the WPP employees decided ‘thoughts and prayers’ were no longer enough.
“It is down to the support of our nation that Smoggys has come to life as an operating business, set to make a real difference,” said Smoggys co-founder and Wavemaker strategy director, Marco Del Castillo.
“Smoggys’ aim is to protect our nation from the smoke and act as a public symbol that Aussies have come together to help and support our firies.”
This week, the industry also launched a pro bono campaign – voiced by Eric Bana – in support of the Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund, which distributes financial help to people whose homes and properties have been destroyed in the area. The effort, spearheaded by TBWA, its Melbourne CEO Kimberlee Wells, and IPG’s new CEO Mark Coad, has attracted support and donations from major outdoor and TV media owners.
The Smoggys team: Lucas Fowler, Bec Drummond, Jack Burton and Marco Del Castillo
At least 136 fires continue to rage across the country, with at least 24 people dead, more than 1,300 houses destroyed in New South Wales alone, half a billion animals incinerated, and 6.3m hectares burnt. In comparison, 900,000 hectares were lost in the Amazon fires last year, and 800,000 in 2018’s Californian wildfires.
“As a nation, we are indebted to the heroes and heroines of the RFS, who are out on the front line fighting the fires, day in and day out,” added Ogilvy copywriter and Smoggys co-founder, Lucas Fowler.
“While we are in the cities complaining about the smoke, there are people in the bush doing it far worse and we need to unite together to support the firies as much as we can, so that they can continue to protect us and our land.”
The ‘bin chicken’ Smoggys design
With all profits going to the RFS, Smoggys joins a list of donation initiatives such as Twitter’s #AuthorsForFireys, which sees writers including Leigh Sales, Annabel Crabb, Benjamin Law, Jamila Rizvi and Rick Morton auction off items such as signed books and meals with the authors.
A slew of businesses have chosen to donate a lump sum, or a slice of sales or profits, to bushfire-related charities. Celebrities like Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett used yesterday’s Golden Globes as a platform to encourage support, and comedian and influencer Celeste Barber’s Facebook fundraiser has cracked the $40m mark.
Smoggys can be pre-ordered here.
If you’d like to assist with bushfire recovery, relief and rescue efforts, please explore the options below:
- New South Wales Rural Fire Service
- Victorian Country Fire Authority
- South Australian Country Fire Service
- Queensland Rural Fire Service
- Salvation Army Disaster Appeal
- St Vincent de Paul Society Bushfire Appeal
- Australian Red Cross Disaster Recovery and Relief
- WIRES (Wildlife Rescue) Emergency Fund
- Koalas in Care
- Western Australia Volunteer Fire and Rescue
This is excellent and great from ogilvy / wavemaker to donate!
yea boi
Awesome job for an amazing cause! Well done to everyone involved.
Love it. Great work.
Yeah, huge donations there from the largest agency group in the country.
No doubt they’ll find more than $1275 to enter it into various awards though
Perish the thought young media people would donate directly and anonymously instead of turning everything into PR
Hey Tech Bro, what are you doing, what are you giving?
4 young people using their skills and talent may well have come up with an idea that raises money far in excess of anything they might have simply given.
Or it might not, but so what?
This is hardly an example of shameless self promoting ‘PR’, it’s a story about the good in our industry, which is increasingly necessary when it’s populated by so many determined to be the cheap, sarcastic snipers.
To the quartet, bravo, to Tech Bro jog on.
This is brilliant, well done guys!
Bravo and should be applauded. Our young talent being creative, resourceful & doing something positive to make a real difference.
The PR is necessary to help the cause , drive sales and donations.
Stop the bitching and buy a mask.
Let’s be positive and talk great ideas and people up.
Credit where it is due. There is a real stigma with wearing these masks for lots of young people and this could make the difference!
Brilliant! Standing ovation Where can I get one?
Brilliant. Love that instead of commenting like the vast majority of us, they’ve actively used their creativity to solve a real issue, in real life. Well done guys!
Brilliant and constructive way to offer help and raise funds… sending off my order soon, and encouraging others here to as well.
cheers pk
Hi Tech Bro
As someone who has worked with these guys for the last 3 weeks to see their idea go from concept to production to real life, I can say this is 100% not about them or PR for the agency. They are trying to do something more than what they could have donated directly, by using their heads and creativity. They’ve designed a product, got a supplier, launched a site in next to no time, with no experience mind you, over the xmas break. The money and profits they raise, if it goes to plan will end up being over $10,000 and maybe much higher – all of which will go to the RFS. Certainly way more than a $50 or $100 direct donation.
So STFU and stop bitching
Hey Mic
This is not an agency initiative.. the 4 people are doing it off their own bat, out of work hours. The agencies they work for are proud of them and were asked to put a little in to help get the idea off the ground to kickstart it. None of this is for awards.. its all for the RFS.
So stop your cynicism, STFU and buy a mask. Help the RFS.
Just bought two!
These youngsters are brilliant & well done to their support network & employer for letting them have a go.
AWESOMENESS !!!!!!
Whilst I applaud the motivation behind this campaign, please be aware that these masks are not approved to filter out smog or viruses. They do not have Standards certification and do not provide a tight seal on the face. Their protection factor is therefore negligible against smog or other airborne agents.
If you want something to filter smog or smoke, you need an approved P2 respirator and it needs to seal tightly against your face.