By Kevin Whitlock
Just before the smoking ban came into place last July, we created a campaign for our client Cancer Research UK entitled “Welcome to the Great Indoors”. During the course of the various discussions we had while researching and executing the campaign, one question kept coming up: “What’s going to happen to all those old ashtrays?”
A good question, and one that nobody seemed to have an answer to. Everyone just assumed, with a shrug, that they’d end up gathering dust in cupboards or clogging up landfill sites.
That wasn’t on, so we decided to do something about it. So we decided to transform all those unwanted receptacles into something that would be of social benefit: an initiative that would turn the negative associations of an ashtray into a more environmentally-friendly positive; and raise some money for our client into the bargain.
Creatives Rod (Broomfield) and Taf (Mark Davies) undertook the onerous task of collecting as many newly unemployed ashtrays as pub landlords across London would donate. Specially-branded “Vase” bags were used (see picture at top)
We then comissioned renowned master glass maker Anthony Stern (www.anthonysternglass.com) and asked him if he could recycle them into flower vases. One chilly winter morning we went to Anthony’s studio in Battersea to film the man in action.
What we ended up with was a series of exquisitely-crafted, individually signed and numbered vases – each of them different. Rod, Taf and the guys from the Ogilvy Group Studio designed and made a booklet – detailing the creation of the vases – and a gorgeous box to put the vases in.
As part of an ongoing process, these vases are being auctioned on eBay via CR-UK’s “shop” (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Cancer-Research-UK-Shop) to raise money for the charity. All monies raised go to CR-UK.
Click on the link below to see a short film about the making of the vases (Neil Eveley from Domain here at Ogilvy filmed and edited it).
