WWF-Korea and Cheil launch striking OOH work using AI to highlight plastic pollution crisis
WWF-Korea has teamed up with creative agency Cheil to launch ‘Animal Trash Fashion’, a provocative out-of-home (OOH) campaign that puts a bold spotlight on the impact of plastic pollution on wildlife.
The campaign features AI-generated visuals of animals like sea turtles and seals entangled in plastic waste, presented through a stylised fashion-film aesthetic. In this surreal twist, the litter becomes “wearable” — portraying plastic as man-made designs that have turned deadly for animals in the wild.
WWF-Korea has established the ‘No Plastics in Nature’ initiative to reduce the production of plastics and prevent further release of plastics into nature by 2030. Animal Trash Fashion is its latest call for action to join WWF’s efforts to conserve nature by reducing plastic production and consumption.
“With AI, Animal Trash Fashion depicts the dire reality of the plastic crisis, in which 79% of globally produced plastics are being thrown away. Our work will be a step toward raising public awareness on plastic pollution,” said Park Minhye, executive director of WWF-Korea. “To achieve substantial results at the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee to end plastic pollution (INC-5) taking place in Geneva this August, we need everyone’s attention and involvement.”
The campaign was created entirely with generative AI to avoid harm or disturbance to real animals, and to represent species that are otherwise difficult or impossible to film in captivity or the wild.
A 20m x 60m full-screen takeover was revealed on July 21st in the Gwanghwamun area, the heart of Korea’s capital city, Seoul, where many government buildings and media headquarters are located. Digital Chosun Ilbo, an online news publication in Korea, provided the out-of-home media placement, agreeing upon the campaign’s purpose of promoting a cause in the public interest.
Animal Trash Fashion will run for one month until August 20th through out-of-home and WWF-Korea-owned social channels.
