Plastic Change asks what’s wrong with your dong?
The Danish NGO’s print and billboard campaign brings an even more sinister meaning to the concept of toxic masculinity by highlighting the shocking reach of microplastics pollution.
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Created for Plastic Change by indie agency Worth Your While, in collaboration with Glue Society, the campaign, ‘Are You Packing Microplastics?’, humorously spoofs Calvin Klein’s iconic underwear ads to raise awareness of a serious issue.
Microplastics are everywhere – including, as recent research shows, in 80 per cent of penile/testicle tissue samples and 100 per cent of semen samples tested.
Faced with the direct threat this poses to fertility, the organisation is appealing to the mostly male delegates at the world’s biggest plastics convention happening this week in Geneva – the UN Global Plastics Treaty INC-5.2 – urging them to act.
Shot by renowned fashion photographer Derek Henderson - satirising his own style showcased in Vogue, Bottega Veneta and Louis Vuitton - the campaign features a series of black and white images, featuring buff male physiques. But in a clever, slightly uncomfortable twist, the bulges in their tighty whities have been replaced by PET plastic bottles.
Research shows many men disengage from environmental issues because they associate caring for the planet with femininity, seeing eco-friendly choices as a threat to their masculinity. Using this insight, Worth Your While flipped that narrative by deploying hyper masculine visuals that might prompt delegates to consider… “what’s the shizzle with my pizzle?” and start taking measures against new plastic production.
