Extinction feels distant. We know it’s happening to species but it does so imperceptibly except for the occasional news headline.

WWF Denmark and creative agency, &Co. / NoA’s Extinction Days Calendar, however, puts extinction in front of everyone’s eyes. The calendar transforms the abstract threat of the sixth mass extinction into tangible Google Calendar events by embedding the extinction dates of endangered animals, estimated by leading scientists, in people’s digital daily routines. The initiative aims to educate, remind, and empower people to act before it’s too late. The digital tool includes the call to action, Save the date to help cancel the event.

The idea is built with a backdrop of heartbreaking and hard-to-grasp-statistics – since 1970, there has been an average of almost 70% decline in global species populations.

Today, more than 1 million species are facing extinction.

“We are living in the middle of the sixth mass extinction, and the loss of species is accelerating at an alarming rate. The problem is so massive and complex that it can be hard to grasp – and consequently act upon. But the extinction crisis is not a distant crisis. It’s happening right now. We hope this initiative, that these events, will make the consequences easier to relate to. And that it will urge people to mobilise and act before it’s too late,” stated Jonathan Slyngborg Fjord and Sophie Hotchkiss, senior creatives at &Co. / NoA, who gave birth to the idea.

“Facing the grim reality that over 1 million species are currently on the brink of extinction, we needed a way to bring this urgency into the public’s daily life. The Google Calendar integration allows us to leverage everyday technology to make the issue impossible to ignore,” added Tobias Emme Høgsberg, communication, marketing & fundraising director, WWF Denmark. “With the Extinction Days Calendar, we’re turning a crisis, that can be hard to grasp, into personal call to actions. These aren’t just calendar events; they’re countdowns that we have the power to stop.”

WWF collaborated with leading scientists from universities such as University of Cambridge and University of Copenhagen to estimate the extinction dates of endangered species. These have been compiled into a long list that is continuously expanded and updated. The list includes large and small animals, from well-known to lesser known, each facing varying degrees of extinction urgency. The Hawaiian bird, Akikiki, for instance, is the most critically endangered animal on the list, projected to face extinction very soon, possibly within the next month.

The Extinction Days Calendar is available worldwide. To create awareness for the calendar and crisis, a creative campaign appears in different formats on different platforms from major OOH placements and DOOH at metro stations in Copenhagen to print and digital ads as well as on social media. Media spend is focused on the Danish market, but WWF Denmark invites people worldwide to subscribe to the calendar and join the movement to cancel the extinction dates of the endangered animals.

The Extinction Days Calendar is available here. Subscribe to the Extinction Days Calendar here.

Credits:

Creative Agency: &Co / NoA 
Creative Director: Claus Collstrup
Art Director: Jonathan Slyngborg Fjord
Copywriter: Sophie Hotchkiss
Graphic Designer: Morten Grundsøe
Interactive Producer: Palle Storm Aufeldt
Media Strategists: Mark Ellegaard & Morten Saxnæs
Account Director: Sarah Gandil
Account Manager: Christoffer Reimer Petri

Animator Bold, NoA: Gustav Ditlev Sørensen
Designer, NoA Ignite: Neal Drasbeck
Project Manager, NoA Ignite: Niclas Haumann
UX, NoA Ignite: Thea Nielsen
Developer, NoA Ignite: Tomm Huth
Engagement Director, NoA Ignite: Kasper Kærsgaard

Client: WWF Denmark
Communication Director: Tobias Emme Høgsberg
Strategic Consultant: Rie Kromann
Corporate Partnership Manager: Henriette Nedergaard
Head of PR & Media: Mai-Britt Noe