{"id":1088,"date":"2016-06-30T13:40:26","date_gmt":"2016-06-30T13:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billboards.bmediagroup.com\/?p=936"},"modified":"2016-06-30T13:40:26","modified_gmt":"2016-06-30T13:40:26","slug":"faces-of-litter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bmediagroup.com\/news\/faces-of-litter\/","title":{"rendered":"A Billboard that Identifies People Who Litter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you have an opinion on people who litter?\u00a0 Almost everyone does. Unfortunately, for those living in crowded urban areas, it\u2019s really just a fact of life. Governments and societies try to crack down on it, but many people just don\u2019t listen.<\/p>\n

One anti-litter group decided that enough was enough, and they took a fairly radical step to fight the problem.\u00a0 But, did they cross any ethical lines themselves?\u00a0 That\u2019s up to you to decide.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Problem<\/h2>\n

Hong Kong is a city full of people.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, the more than 7 million inhabitants crammed into such a small place ranks it as the fourth most densely populated region on the planet.<\/p>\n

That many people always adds up to a logistical nightmare when it comes to waste disposal, but it doesn\u2019t help that littering seems to be the official sport.\u00a0 Every day, there is more than 16,000 tons of waste dumped in the city, and this has given life to the Hong Kong Cleanup Initiative.\u00a0 The organization\u2019s name is pretty straightforward about what they do, but you might be surprised to learn that they literally launched an in-your-face campaign to combat the problem.<\/p>\n

\"Litter<\/h2>\n

Basics of the Campaign<\/h2>\n

The government has already tried many methods of going after this problem, so the campaign had to find a unique way of getting to people.\u00a0 There are pretty hefty fines given to anyone caught littering, but that just wasn\u2019t motivational enough.\u00a0 This led the environmental group to team up with Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong<\/a> to try and put together something that would really get people listening.\u00a0 So, the strategy decided on for this campaign was to do a bit of shaming for the litterbugs in society.<\/p>\n

They Even Found the Perfect Day to Do It<\/h2>\n

This whole project was called the Face of Litter Campaign, and they had the perfect day to launch it:\u00a0 Earth Day.\u00a0 Leading up to it, teams had worked to collect garbage, and they managed to pick up more than 4,000 tons from the streets.\u00a0 Then, they gave it to some scientists to work their magic.<\/p>\n

What Tech Did They Need to Do It?<\/h2>\n

Scientists at Parabon NanoLabs<\/a> used Snapshot\u2122 DNA phenotyping to analyze who had touched the various garbage samples, and this allowed them to make a digital drawing of the litterbug responsible for each individual piece.\u00a0 They tended to focus on bits of garbage that would have physical bits of people left behind, and some of the favorites were coffee cups, cigarette butts, and condoms.\u00a0 This technology has the ability to predict eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling, shape of the face, and a lot more about people just from a tiny amount of their DNA.\u00a0 It may sound like something out of science fiction, but that\u2019s the world we live in today.<\/p>\n

\"Do<\/p>\n

What Did It Accomplish?<\/h2>\n

The Hong Kong Cleanup Initiative has some great programs in place to clean up the trash.\u00a0 Unfortunately, they were really stuck in the pattern of cleaning up after people, and they weren\u2019t having much success in preventing littering in the first place.\u00a0 That\u2019s where this campaign really helped out – it got people talking.\u00a0 In only two weeks, it managed to get 3.9 million engagements on social media, and $5 million in earned media coverage.<\/p>\n

Advertising vs. Activism<\/h2>\n

This campaign was very successful by many measurements, but it does raise some ethical questions.\u00a0 The pictures that were shown were generated drawings of theoretical people, but is it appropriate to publicly shame people?\u00a0 Even if it works to solve a problem, it can cause harm to people who may or may not deserve it.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have the answer to this, it\u2019s really up to you and your own personal beliefs.<\/p>\n