https://www.surfrider.org/programs/plastic-pollution

For my advocacy project on ocean pollution, a beneficial theoretical partnership would be with the Surfrider Foundation.

The above campaign released by the Surfrider Foundation is based on the idea that what begins in the ocean will end on your plate. They utilize the idea of sushi, wrapped and filled with trash, to convey this message. This is an effective mode because the phrase, “What Goes in the Ocean Goes in You” hammers home the idea that the trash we put out will end up inside of us. The campaign is an effective mode because it pulls on natural human selfishness. Especially in today’s day and age, most people are looking to eat healthier, and care what we put in our bodies. They are our bodies, after all. By displaying a popular “healthy” food item that is made up of inedible, disgusting trash, they are playing into our selfish nature of not wanting to put garbage (literal or otherwise) into us. Playing off of our selfish tendencies allows for the campaign to have an emotional effect that it would not have otherwise.

The audience is the general public to encourage them to reduce their trash output, especially of plastics like bags and bottles. More specifically, it could be targeting users of single-use plastic bags, as they are the items that most frequently end up in the oceans and harming ecosystems. By targeting this specific (but large) section of society, they are reaching out to a large audience in an attempt to influence future decisions. The audience could also be said to be companies that still utilize single-use plastic bags in their stores. Grocery stores, retail stores, and restaurants often use single-use bags for customers to transport goods. Targeting these companies with this ad could influence them to encourage use of reusable or paper bags, or show directly where their actions will lead. In addition, companies could believe that they will receive blow-back for using single-use bags if enough customers see this campaign and/or are passionate enough as a result of it.

The constraints of this ad truly rest in indifference. Because there are so many campaigns against ocean pollution, while this is one of the more clever ones, many may read it and not invest any emotional energy into it. While if one thinks about this ad, it disgusts you, it does not have the shock value of some other advocacy campaigns. At first glance, this may appear as a regular piece of sushi, and because it is not attention grabbing unless you realize what it is, it will not stop strangers on the street. It does not have the shock or entertainment value to truly grab attention from a random passerby, which is the primary constraint of this campaign.