6 Public Awareness Ads That Make Climate Change Hilariously Personal

A new tongue in cheek public awareness campaign shows the fight against climate change is highly personal.

Governments around the world are trying to find effective ways to communicate that climate action is not a luxury but a necessity.

Some argue that campaigns that look at climate change from a global perspective, like Leonardo DiCaprio’s Before the Flood documentary, are not enough.

Canada’s Ontario province takes a different approach with a series of seven 30-second clips that highlight the impact of climate change on topics ranging from pizzas to man caves.

1. Save The Pizza

Extreme weather damages crops and makes food more expensive. “Everything that goes into our pizzas comes from places. Places like farms,” a pizza delivery woman says in the clip as she rings a bell, before explaining that climate change causes more crop-damaging erratic weather in front of a confused customer.

2. Save The Snowy Driveways

Scientists project that by 2050, the average annual temperature in Ontario will increase by about 3.6 degrees Celsius, according to the campaign’s website. “There’s a saying in this business, and that’s ‘it takes snowbanks to make bank,'” says Randy’s sister as he shovels snow in the background. She then explains climate change causes shorter, warmer winters. “That’s bad news for me,” she says, “But it’s worse news for Randy, I’d have to let him go.”

3. Save The Man Caves

Climate change leads to extreme weather events that affect homes. “With climate change, we could see stronger storms and more basements flooding,” says a man in a basement. “That’s terrible news for man caves,” he says, before revealing that his own man cave will be high and dry because of a clever climate change adaptation measure involving cinder blocks.

4. Save The Fish Stories

Warming streams and lakes could result in the loss of many coldwater fish the campaign points out. “Higher temperatures in our lakes could mean less trout. That’d mean fewer great fishing stories,” a man says while sat at the kitchen table with his partner. “Like the time up north when,” he begins, before she cuts him off, finishes his story and winks at the camera.

5. Save The Ski Days

Ski resorts increasingly have to come up with supplemental activities for their customers as climate change shortens the winter sports season. “If you’re a ski bum like me, you know that climate change could mean higher temperatures and less snow,” a man says while he is while pacing around the living room in a tight fitting ski suit. “So you gotta be ready to go. Anytime,” he explains while birds can be heard chirping outside.

6. Save The Grapes

Grape growers in Canada’s Niagara region reported crop damage to merlot, sauvignon blanc and syrah grape varieties caused by the effects of extreme cold weather according to the campaign. In this clip, a man can be seen crushing grapes with his feet in a basement. “When we heard climate change could damage Ontario’s vineyards, we decided to take things into our own hands,” a woman says. “More like our own feet!” the man replies.

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