60-second radio commercial
• CHALLENGE •
“Promote recycling without nagging people”
Context: public radio fund drives. Anti-littering campaigns. Voting issue emails. The default tone is obligation, guilt, and “should” — which is why people change the channel, look away, or hit the delete button. Nobody’s asking for another thing to feel bad about.
Process: so how to convey this important environmental message in a way people would actually listen to? Tell a story where listeners would actually root for recycling. . . .
Solution: an intriguing first-person point of view, the classic “hero’s journey” structure, and some pinpoint script editing and sound design by the superlative Andre Bergeron.
Success: winner, 2004 Radio-Mercury Award student competition