Nature hates a tosser. 303 MullenLowe has personified nature as a bunch of watchful and angry Aussie birds rather than innocent and helpless creatures, to target an audience that will often make excuses for littering, or assume it’s okay if no-one sees them doing it.
The campaign for the new NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) awareness campaign builds on and reimagines the highly successful 11-year-old NSW EPA Don’t be a Tosser platform aimed at changing the behaviour of daily and weekly litterers. It is running across TV, BVOD, SVOD, radio, digital and social, OOH and across CALD assets (film, social, radio). Local Governments across NSW will also use assets to ensure maximum visibility.
303 MullenLowe Sydney chief strategy officer Jody Elston, commented, “We know that anonymity increases people’s propensity to litter. Young men in particular are less likely to drop litter when people are around or they are closer to home, so we needed to shift from evoking social shame when people are watching, to personal shame in the moment. To ensure their emotional response would over-ride convenience led excuses.
“Our secondary research illuminated a famous psychological experiment whereby the presence of eyes simulates an authority figure watching and works to curb people’s negative behaviour even when alone. We leveraged this cognitive influence and showed nature’s angry eyes watching to bring the real impact on wildlife and waterways closer to the littering behaviour.”
Nature Hates a Tosser is 303 MullenLowe’s first work since being appointed by NSW EPA earlier this year as the result of a competitive pitch ,and is built with the agency’s strong behaviour change expertise, using extensive research to ensure its approach would engage the male target demographic aged 18-44. 303 MullenLowe worked closely with NSW EPA and the Litter Prevention Unit to deliver a campaign strategy, creative platform and communications architecture, while also executing all production.
NSW EPA director, corporate affairs Vanessa Grimm, stated, “Tosser has been highly successful at driving home litter prevention messages since first airing in 2014. But we know that despite these efforts, there is still a group within our communities that will litter using excuses like ‘there wasn’t a bin nearby’ or ‘it’s only a small wrapper or bottle top’. We hope by showing that nature is watching and angry, these litterers will understand and acknowledge the impact their littering has, and ultimately change their behaviour. We’re excited to see this come to life across multiple platforms and formats.”
303 MullenLowe’s behaviour change campaigns have received multiple accolades. These include a Silver Effie for Insight and Strategic Thinking and a Bronze Positive Change Effie for its Arrows campaign developed with the Cancer Institute NSW at the 2024 Australian Effie Awards; and two Bronze Effies at the Australian Effie Awards in 2022 for the One Drink campaign developed for the WA Mental Health Commission in collaboration with Cancer Council WA.
Credits:
Client: EPA
Manager Communications and Marketing: Linda Kerman
Principal Marketing & Campaigns Advisor: Cat Khuat
Senior Marketing & Campaigns Advisors: Jess Tocker & Jeremy Hartcher
Manager Programs: Rupert Saville
Agency: 303 MullenLowe Sydney
Chief Executive Officer: Joanna Gray
Chief Creative Officer: Bart Pawlak
Chief Strategy Officer:Jody Elston
Creative Directors: Adam Whitehead & Tiara Lowndes
Client Service Director:Ben Glasson
Head of Production: Skye Lanser
Executive Broadcast Producer: Jackie Archer
Head of Design: Alby Furfaro
Director: Mitch Green
Executive Producer, InMotion Films: Rob Steele
Sonar Music – Music and Sound
