Toilet paper brand Who Gives A Crap has unveiled Winnie-The-Pooh: The Deforested Edition, via Eleven and TBWA\Melbourne.
The campaign is a first-of-its-kind reimagining of the iconic children’s book, to highlight the impact of deforestation across the globe.
A. A. Milne’s 1926 classic Winnie-the-Pooh entered the public domain in the United States in 2022 and now with the refreshed release, joins a growing list of books and films that have been controversially updated for the modern world.
Who Gives A Crap is the first to update a piece of classic literature to reflect environmental changes. Winnie-the-Pooh: The Deforested Edition features the original story by A. A. Milne alongside illustrations reimagined to represent the impact of land cleared every day to make traditional toilet paper.
Where once lush trees stood, home to the many furry friends, they have now been replaced by felled tree stumps. The revision has also been extended to the iconic Hundred Acre Wood map, depicting the widespread impact on all of Winnie-the-Pooh's friends.
Eleven and TBWA\Melbourne led all global earned creative and strategy, and partnered with sister agency TBWA\Chiat\Day and UK agency Fanclub on the execution of the campaign.
LA publisher Paper Chase Press managed printing and distribution of the books that are available exclusively for the US market.
Who Gives A Crap’s head of brand management, Maria Chilewicz, said one of the challenges the company faces is finding ways to connect with people emotionally on issues that, for many, feel far far away.
"With more than one million trees destroyed every day to make traditional toilet paper, we knew we needed something special to break through the noise and make a genuine impact," she said.
Creative directors, Harrison Webster & Max Reed, said for obvious reasons, Pooh was really the only choice.
"But reworking such a classic came with huge responsibilities, and so it was vital that these books were beautifully crafted, sustainable, and as close to the original as possible," said Webster and Reed.
"This way, families can still get lost in the whimsical world of A.A. Milne’s Pooh, while taking away this important message."
Winnie-The-Pooh: The Deforested Edition has been sustainably created with recycled paper, from old notebooks and office supplies, and was only available for purchase in the US via the Who Gives a Crap United States website.
All proceeds will go to Who Gives A Crap’s WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) partners to help give everyone in the world access to clean water and sanitation.
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