They say that once in a while it’s good to dedicate your time to a good cause.
Back in 2011, the city of Iasi in Romania, had serious issues regarding public cleanness, and we imagined a way to solve this problem, by turning the public trash bins into friendly characters that communicate with the target audience. As inspiration strikes when you least expect, the idea came when we observed that the trash beans were rather “sad”, because of the small usage rate, the colours, or because of vandals.
The fact was obvious: they are our friends, because they help society by providing space to deposit waste, and making the world a better place.
The fact was obvious: they are our friends, because they help society by providing space to deposit waste, and making the world a better place.
Phase 1 : “What’s that?”
We created posters by using just the silhouette of the bins which are supposed to be displayed around the city creating confusion around the whole idea, and make people wonder “what’s this?”
The goal of this strategy, is to create mystery around the object, preparing the field for the joy of rediscovery. After analysing the bins the city used, we narrowed it down to 4 types of trash bins.
Phase 2 : “Oh! It’s a trash bin!”
The second phase is the rediscovery of the bins as characters which communicate with people. We chose to make it friendly, because it can target two audiences : the young citizens, who will be surprised by the fun approach, and the older ones, who have children, and will find in this campaign a learning resource for educating their children.
