People are fascinated by other planets with their desolate, alien, unliveable environments. Greenpeace Brazil’s new campaign by Beta Collective, in collaboration with I.M – Irmãos Meirelles, uses this as an attention magnet. The shock is that the visuals in the campaign are of our planet.
The awareness campaign brings close to home a crisis that, sadly, can seem distant. It presents the real Brazil as an apocalyptic landscape. The goal of the campaign is to convey the violent reality of climate change through raw, powerful, and documented images — captured in a visual style that evokes space photography from Mars or Venus.
The campaign spotlights regions deeply scarred by climate disruption – drought-stricken Gilbués (Piauí), collapsing river systems such as the Coari and Rio Negro, and the scorched forests around Tefé and Porto Velho. Once familiar names to Brazilians, these places are now transformed into desolate scenes worthy of a post-apocalyptic film. But this is no fiction. These landscapes have truly changed. The ground is cracked, forests have burned, rivers have dried up.
There is No AI. No Hollywood-style special effects. The images in the campaign, though surreal at times, are authentic aerial photographs taken across Brazilian territory. It’s this very tension, between stark realism and otherworldly aesthetics, that gives the campaign its striking impact. The campaign is direct and provocative. Its language is engaging and its sense of urgency is real, challenging viewers with the wondering, What if the end has already begun?
Laura Leal, director of engagement at Greenpeace Brazil, stated, “We are already experiencing the effects of the climate crisis. But there is still time to act.”
Supporting the film is a large-scale photo exhibition is taking over Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo’s most famous urban park. For one week, visitors can explore seven images from the series displayed across 70 billboards, transforming the park into an open-air gallery.
Bernardo Tavares, creative director at Beta Collective, noted, “People are talking about finding water elsewhere — but when you look at parts of Brazil today, you can’t help but wonder if we shouldn’t first learn how to protect what we already have.”
Credits
Client: Greenpeace
Agency: Beta Collective
Creative Director: Bernardo Tavares
Creative Team: Marcelo Monzillo, Guilherme Cruz, Fabio Meirelles, Bernardo Tavares, Rodrigo Aranha
Art Director: Marcelo Monzillo, Guilherme Cruz
Copywriter: Bernardo Tavares
Direction: I.M Irmãos Meirelles
DOP: Ícaro N. Silva
Photographers: Christian Braga, Daniel Beltrá, Marizilda Cruppe, Fabio Meirelles, Ícaro N. Silva
Editing and Motion Graphics: Rodrigo Aranha
Production: I.AM
Production Assistant: Lauane Nunes
Soundtrack and SFX: Mugshot
Outdoor Media: Action OOH
