With constantly changing weather temperatures, landscapes, sea levels, and so forth, it’s becoming obvious to many that climate change and global warming are very real and an impending danger for our earth. 

A dutch company called “Greenpeace” has been an activist for rapidly changing climate since the 70s but has just recently begun gaining traction around the world. The company displays rather chilling advertisements onto different social media platforms whenever a new climate crisis arises. By doing this, they are using kairos to strike the audience when the media has brought such disasters to light. Recently, they posted this ad around Christmas with a large snow globe in the center of a green room. Within the snow globe lies the remains of what once built up a snowman: a hat, a scarf, some rocks for eyes and a mouth, and a small carrot for the nose. Under the dressings is a small puddle of water as the result of the snow that has slowly melted. On the top right of the advertisement there is small white lettering that writes out, “Winter. You’ll miss it when it’s gone.” Along with the signature “Greenpeace” logo stamped in the corner.

In this specific advertisement/civic artifact, “Greenpeace” uses kairos as a manipulation of emotions for the audience. The audience in particular is not targeted towards one age or gender which broadens the impact of the purpose they’re trying to get out. By making this ad so plain and simple it calls out to just about anyone willing to listen about what is happening to our earth if nothing is done about it. The use of a melted snowman to demonstrate rising temperatures in particular pulls at the emotional attachment so many people have to the holidays and their childhood of building one with family or friends. Thus, more will feel moved to donate to “Greenpeace” or other global warming activists to slow down and maybe even stop climate change.