✴︎ film
GLOBAL WATER BANKRUPTCY
UNU INSTITUTE FOR WATER
2026
A campaign concept responding to the United Nations University report Global Water Bankruptcy, which warns that the world is entering a condition in which freshwater systems are being depleted and polluted faster than they can recover.
The campaign starts from a simple problem: ecological collapse has to compete with corporations, entertainment, technology and scandal for public attention. Headlines shift between familiar brands, products, industries and cultural obsessions, intentionally chosen both as attention magnets and for their direct connection to systems that consume or pollute large amounts of freshwater. These words are layered over images of reservoirs, freshwater basins and landscapes already showing the effects of severe water loss. The shrinking waterlines and exposed ground make the new reality visible. These are water systems being pushed beyond their ability to recover.
Borrowing the language of clickbait, trending searches and corporate news, the campaign briefly behaves like the attention economy before turning that behaviour against itself. It deliberately exploits the same culture it criticises, redirecting attention towards the hidden water demand behind everyday consumption.
Learn more and read the report here.
The campaign starts from a simple problem: ecological collapse has to compete with corporations, entertainment, technology and scandal for public attention. Headlines shift between familiar brands, products, industries and cultural obsessions, intentionally chosen both as attention magnets and for their direct connection to systems that consume or pollute large amounts of freshwater. These words are layered over images of reservoirs, freshwater basins and landscapes already showing the effects of severe water loss. The shrinking waterlines and exposed ground make the new reality visible. These are water systems being pushed beyond their ability to recover.
Borrowing the language of clickbait, trending searches and corporate news, the campaign briefly behaves like the attention economy before turning that behaviour against itself. It deliberately exploits the same culture it criticises, redirecting attention towards the hidden water demand behind everyday consumption.
Learn more and read the report here.
Concept & Art Direction
Graphic Design
Copywriting
Graphic Design
Copywriting