Corona Reimagines Iconic Symbols of Paradise to Remind the World That Plastic Doesn’t Belong in Our Oceans

Working with Parley for the Oceans, Corona is hijacking its advertising and the classic Hawaiian shirt pattern to reveal the impact of marine plastic pollution.

Corona is taking the issue of marine plastic pollution to the global stage by hijacking iconic symbols of paradise for World Oceans Day. Roughly eight million metric tons of plastic waste are dumped into the ocean each year. To raise awareness of this fact, the brand is inserting plastic into other places it doesn’t belong. Corona is starting by twisting its own campaign tagline and imagery to show the unfortunate fate of paradise plagued by plastic pollution. Additionally, Corona and Parley are unveiling a limited-edition Hawaiian shirt design that incorporates plastic pollution imagery into the pattern. Last month, the partnership changed the name of the “Corona Bali Pro” World Surf League event to “Corona Bali Pro-tected” to make the point that even the most remote and aspirational paradises around the world are suffering.

“As a brand that is synonymous with the beach, we are seeing the destruction of shorelines and oceans up close,” said Felipe Ambra, Global VP of Corona. “Our ads usually showcase paradise the way we assume it to be, pristine and beautiful, but today it’s increasingly hard to find a beach without plastic. Through our work with Parley, we hope to reverse this trend. This World Oceans Day, Corona wants to remind the world that we all need to protect our beaches to continue enjoying them.”

More information on Corona’s activities leading up to World Oceans Day:

“THIS IS LIVING” CAMPAIGN TAGLINE HACK: With its idyllic beach imagery, a Corona ad could be considered a symbol of paradise itself. In many countries around the world this week, Corona will hijack its own campaign tagline and creative by switching from “This Is Living” to “This Is Living?” and replace the beautiful beach images with images of paradise polluted. As a voice for paradise, Corona is dedicating it’s most visible advertising and social media channels to the cause in order to help raise awareness globally.

PLASTIC POLLUTION OVERTAKES CORONA BILLBOARDS: Corona is using plastic from nearby beaches to build sculptures on top of the brand’s billboards in London, Melbourne, Santiago, Bogota, Santo Domingo and Lima. These installations serve as a representation of the issue with the local plastic seamlessly integrating into Corona’s paradise imagery. For example, the sculpture in London features Australian actor Chris Hemsworth surfing in a wave of plastic collected from nearby Holywell beach. The “Wave of Waste” on the Australian installation weighs 1,500KG, which is equal to the amount of plastic that enters Australia’s oceans each day. In both cities, people can drop off their own plastic pollutants at the site of the billboard to be added to the plastic installation over the course of the week.

NEW HAWAIIAN SHIRT DESIGN: Corona and Parley for the Oceans are introducing a new Hawaiian shirt pattern that not only weaves marine plastic pollution into the design, but also the thread of the shirt itself. The shirt is made from Parley Ocean Plastic™ that is collected from the open ocean, remote islands, shorelines and coastal communities. The design subtly features everyday plastic items like toothbrushes and plastic bottles to represent the fact that the issue at a distance is hard to see, but pervasive up close. The limited-edition shirts are available in three colors and can be purchased at wslstore.com/corona for £52 starting on June 4th. Proceeds from each Corona Hawaiian shirt will go to Parley for the Oceans to help support its mission to protect our oceans.

CORONA CHANGES SURF EVENT TITLE: Surfers and the World Surf League tour in particular, travel to some of the most beautiful paradises in the world. The tour recently visited Bali and as title sponsor of the event, Corona and Parley changed the name from “Corona Bali Pro” to “Corona Bali Pro-tected.” The name change is a call-to-action that not only Bali, but also many island regions like it are drowning in plastic. The event brings together local activists, NGOs, government authorities, local industries and global consumer packaged good brands with the hope of creating a 5-year action plan for Bali. See the announcement made earlier this month here.

Although the focus for the week is to raise awareness, Corona and Parley are also committed to protecting 100 islands around the world by 2020. Launched last year, the partnership is already working with local communities in the Maldives, Dominican Republic and Chile and will continue to scale up efforts in several more regions within the next year. Corona x Parley also announced a fundraising platform called Clean Waves in May that upcycles plastic pollution into fashion products for purchase, with all proceeds going to additional island protection.

“When you are in the middle of the oceans, exploring magic islands and this belt of plastic bottles surrounds them, then you know, something is dead wrong. Corona turned out to be a dream partner, a key ally in our battle against this horrible threat. Our partnership proves that while economy is responsible for the destruction of our seas, some brands can be the key for the solution. Together, we will end single-use plastic in the beverage industry. I am certain,” Cyrill Gutsch, founder of Parley for the Oceans.

For more information about marine plastic pollution and Corona and Parley’s commitment to protect islands around the world, visit 100IslandsProtected.com.

About Corona x Parley

In May 2017, Corona and Parley for the Oceans announced their alliance and made a commitment to protect 100 islands by 2020. The protection of 100 islands is made possible through the implementation of the Parley A.I.R. Strategy: Avoid, Intercept, Redesign. The first year of the Corona x Parley partnership focused on working with local communities to “avoid” plastic use and “intercept” it from shorelines before it enters the ocean. With approximately eight million metric tons of plastic entering the ocean each year, it is of equal importance to “redesign” the uses, sources and systems behind plastic pollution, not only collect it. The partnership has already had an impact in several regions around the world. Over 25 islands are now under protection in the Maldives with new islands in Australia, Chile, Dominican Republic and Indonesia to be announced. The project led to the first virgin-plastic free World Surf League (WSL) event in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa last July and most recently, resulted in a series of clean-ups down the coast of Chile led by big wave surfer and activist, Ramon Navarro.

For additional information on the partnership and 100 Islands Project, visit 100IslandsProtected.com.

Links

http://www.parley.tv/#for-the-oceans-1

http://www.corona.com/

http://www.coronaxparley.com/en/agegate/?

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One Thought to “Corona Reimagines Iconic Symbols of Paradise to Remind the World That Plastic Doesn’t Belong in Our Oceans”

  1. […] Corona teamed up with Parley for the Oceans to bring awareness to marine plastic pollution on World Oceans Day. The campaign used a bold and hard to miss OOH advertisement in Melbourne, London, Santiago, Bogota, Santa Domingo, and Lima. The protruding wave in front of the billboards were made entirely from 1,500kg of plastic trash, the equivalent amount that enters Australia’s oceans everyday. The billboard featured Australian Actor Chris Hemsworth surfing the wave with a tagline that read, “From where you’d rather be?” and, “This is Living?”. The trash was collected from the streets and nearby beaches in the weeks leading up to World’s Ocean Day. Corona’s mission was to purposely “trash” its own campaign to creatively highlight the fact that paradise-like beaches are becoming more and more scarce due to the excessive amounts of trash, and as a consequence, literally trashing the picture-perfect image of the beach. […]

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