BBH and the Marine Conservation Society Encourage People to Donate Their Guilt

This week sees the launch of a new campaign by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and BBH inviting people to donate to the UK’s leading marine charity every time they forget their reusable bags, bottles and coffee cups. 

MCS wants people across the UK to remember never to leave home without their reusable mugs and bags, rather than buying single-use plastic which then ends up in our ocean.

The campaign, created by BBH on a pro-bono basis, will run across social media and on billboards across the UK including Westfield London, Bullring Birmingham and Manchester and Edinburgh city centres. This has been made possible as a result of Ocean Outdoor who have pledged £3 million worth of media space to Marine Conservation Society over the next three years. The adverts cleverly feature single-use items floating in water, including an old plastic bag, a takeaway plastic coffee cup, and a small plastic water bottle.

The ads urge people to 'Donate your Guilt' with a £3 text donation to the charity, which works tirelessly to protect our seas and oceans and runs the hugely popular citizen science survey, the Great British Beach Clean, every year.

MCS director of fundraising and marketing, Mike Crossley said: “We want people to ditch single-use plastic so that it doesn’t end up littering our beaches and polluting our waterways. This is our swear box for the oceans. We want to help change people’s habits. We think that asking people for a small donation when they’re feeling guilty will help them remember the next time they leave home." 

MCS has run a series of highly successful campaigns in recent years which have led to policy changes by governments across the UK. The charity called for a plastic bag charge to discourage single-use plastic bag usage and led calls for a money-back recycling system – known as a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) - for glass and plastic drinks bottles and cans which is being introduced in Scotland and is currently under consideration in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. 

Jon Peppiatt, chairman at BBH, said: “We have been very happy to give our time to help MCS with this campaign. It’s such an important issue that I believe we all care about but we need to do more, hopefully this work will help change some behaviours and make a difference.”