Question How You Hydrate Plastic Service Announcement (PSA)

Lonely Whale is a nonprofit organization that brings people closer to the ocean through creative campaigns. Merely 3% of all philanthropic giving is allocated to the environment, and only 1% of that is dedicated to communications. In an effort to transform conservation communications, Lonely Whale acts like a leading brand, “selling” the concept of a healthy ocean. Building on the success of its “For A Strawless Ocean” campaign, on track to remove ~15 billion straws from circulation, Lonely Whale launched “Question How You Hydrate,” which targets single-use plastic water bottles, during World Oceans Week 2019. With creative direction from Young Hero, the campaign addresses a seemingly unsolvable problem: 500 billion plastic bottles are used around the globe annually and are among the top five items found in beach cleanups.

As its central tentpole, Question How You Hydrate employed a “Plastic Service Announcement” (PSA) featuring diverse celebrities and environmentalists encouraging viewers to question how they hydrate. Unlike traditional PSAs, which can be dark and overly serious, Lonely Whale built a bright, vibrant world. The PSA video includes a tongue-in-cheek sales pitch from Zooey Deschanel, vigilante work by Jason Momoa, and some wise words from Diplo: “Water bottles – don’t f**king use them.”

Other celebrities and influencers selected for the PSA were those who had significant Millennial followers or who were representative of Lonely Whale’s target audience – all sharing why they are no longer using plastic water bottles and are instead choosing and championing sustainable alternatives like household cups or reusables. Additional PSA talent includes Adrian Grenier, Aidan Gallagher, Cristina Mittermeier, Daniel Franzese, Erik Ellington, Hayley Law, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Jesse Boykins, Kealamakia Naihe, Nia Sioux, Pierre Don't Care, Pixie Geldof, Rachael Leigh Cook, Sky Brown, and Vic Mensa.

To date, the PSA has earned 340,000 views. The powerful and action-inspiring video also effected change in the marketplace, as Lonely Whale worked alongside the makers of Vita Coco to launch sustainable water brand Ever & Ever in resealable aluminum cans. This caught the attention of Pepsi and Coca-Cola, which subsequently announced plans to switch to aluminum for Aquafina and Dasani.