"I don't really need you" (Nature Is Speaking – Conservation International)

Listen
As soon as I saw these videos I fell in loved with #NatureIsSpeaking campaign by Conservation International.

Co-created by agency TBWA/Media Arts Lab, under the chairmanship of Lee Clow, the advertising legend (responsible for Apple’s Think Different campaign “1984” and “Here’s to the crazy ones.”)

PRINT:

Mother Nature and The Soil poster

Harrison Ford is the vice-president of Conservation International so it shouldn't be a surprise that fellow actor Julia Roberts, along with an A-list of movie stars donated their time and intonations to the project. Hewlett-Packard liked the campaign so much it committed to donating $1 to CI for every unique use of the hashtag #NatureIsSpeaking, up to $1 million. This campaign was awarded at the 2015 CLIO Awards.

VIDEO: Mother Nature

COPY:  Mother Nature

“Some call me Nature, 
Others call me Mother Nature.
I’ve been here for over four and a half billion years,
Twenty-two thousand five hundred times longer than you.

I don’t really need people,
But people need me.
Yes, your future depends on me.
When I thrive, you thrive.
When I falter, you falter or worse.

But I’ve been here for aeons,
I have fed species greater than you, 
And I have starved species greater than you.
My oceans, my soil, my flowing streams, my forests,
They all can take you,
or leave you.

How you chose to live each day,
Whether you regard or disregard me,
doesn’t really matter to me.
One way or the other,
your actions will determine your fate.
Not mine.

I am nature.
I will go on.
I am prepared to evolve.
Are you?”

VIDEO: Flower

COPY: Flower 

“I am a flower.
Yes, I’m beautiful. 
I’ve heard it before. 
And it never grows old.
I’m worshipped for my looks, my scent, my looks.

But here’s the thing.
Life starts with me.
You see, I feed people. 

Every fruit comes from me.
Every potato. Me.
Every kernel of corn. Me.
Every grain of rice. Me.
Me, me, me, I know. But it’s true.

And sometimes I feed their souls.
I am their words when they have none.
I say “I love you,” without a sound. 
“I’m sorry,” without a voice.

I inspire the greatest of them. 
Painters, poets, pattern makers.
I’ve been a muse to them all.

But in my experience, 
people underestimate the power of a pretty little flower.
Because their life does start with me.
And it could end without me.”

 

VIDEO: Rainforest

COPY:  Rainforest

“I am the rainforest. 
I watched them grow up here. 
They’ve left. 

But they always come back. 
Yes, they always come back. 
For my trees, their wood. 
My plants, their medicines. 
For my beauty, their escape.

I’ve always been there for them. 
And I have been more than generous. 
Sometimes I gave it all to them. 
Now gone forever. 

But humans, they’re so smart. 
So smart. 
Such big brains and opposable thumbs. 
They know how to make things. 
Amazing things.
Now why would they need an old forest like me anymore? 
Jungles? 
Trees? 

Well they do breathe air. 
And I make air. 
Have they thought about that? 
Humans, 
so smart. 
They’ll figure it out. 

Humans making air. 
That would be fun to watch.”

I just want to stand up and start to slow-clapping for all the copywriters,  especially for Mother Nature, Rainforest and Flowers: Ren Toner, Hillary Coe, Laura Niubo, Lonnie Elliott, Tor Lemhag, Tim Geoghegan and even Harrison Ford.

I don't think all of them are as effective as Mother Nature and Flowers though. There's a disconnection from "I don't need you," leaving people feeling impotent and "You are hurting me."

 If you want to watch them all click here.