Today, Sky Media reveals Serious Tissues’ £1 million Grand Prix-winning, Sky Zero Footprint Fund advertising campaign.
Serious Tissues wiped out hundreds of competitors to be awarded the top prize for their campaign, showcasing the UK’s first carbon-neutral toilet roll. The resulting advert will run from 24th April – 22nd May, using AdSmart to reach audiences in a selection of UK regions across Sky Media’s Linear TV, and later featuring on Sky’s VOD service.
The advert campaign will display how Serious Tissues’ no-frills products are saving trees, shrinking landfills, and aiding reforestation. Serious Tissues’ innovative production methods aim to cut the number of excess trees used to create toilet paper, creating a toilet roll made from 100% recycled materials. By using paper that would have been otherwise thrown out – such as unused office reports and celebrity glossy mags – Serious Tissues is reducing the toilet paper industry’s carbon footprint and cutting air miles by basing production in the UK. Serious Tissues is also carbon neutral and plastic free.
The advert was first unveiled to the competition’s judges at the Sky Zero Footprint Fund Showcase event on December 7th, 2022. It was recognised and applauded by judges for its witty animation, which kept the production footprint low and featured personable tree characters discussing the impact of toilet roll on the environment – with huge potential to drive consumer change and disrupt a significant category. The trees are voiced by Kiell Smith-Bynoe, of Ghosts, Dreamland and Taskmaster and comedian Emily Lloyd-Saini.
Chris Baker, Co-Founder at Serious Tissues, said, “Toilet paper is an every day essential – which only makes it all the more important that it is produced in the most sustainable way possible. We were thrilled to take home the Grand Prix prize, £1 million of advertising across Sky’s linear TV and VOD service, which will expose our brand to millions of new customers. Not only will this help us reduce our industry’s carbon footprint, but it will also be instrumental in helping us make massive strides towards our reforestation goals.”
Serious Tissues worked with Brilliant Artists, Oh Studio and Wonderhood Studios who wrote and produced the advert. In order to keep the production’s footprint as low as possible, they created a simple film with a very small team of an illustrator and two animators. This meant the production was 5-10 times lower than the average London shoot based on the AdGreen calculator.
Here are some insights that helped lead the planning and execution of Serious Tissue’s award-winning advert:
Every day, one million trees are cut down to create toilet paper.
Serious Tissues’ product provides people with a simple switch that can have a huge impact – for every 1% share they get of the UK toilet roll market, Serious Tissues would plant 10 million trees.
So far, in just over two years of business, Serious Tissues has planted over 1.7 million trees and helped keep over 8,700 in the ground; proving that it is possible to change the world from your toilet seat.
The 2023 Sky Zero Footprint Fund is now open for entries. Sign up here to register your interest in learning more about how to submit your entry, before the deadline on the 26th of May 2023.
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