Tilting away the trash

von Maud Largeaud , AdForum

So here’s a rubbish idea. Germany produces 20% of Europe’s garbage, or 50 million tonnes of trash a year. What to do to remind people that a lot of this can be recycled? In a highly visual campaign designed to reach even those who don’t speak perfect German – such as immigrants or young children – the city of Hamburg used outdoor media in an original way.
Posters showing mountains of trash were deliberately tilted 30 degrees, as if pouring their contents into rubbish bins. The bins themselves were colour-coded. Thus the posters made it easy to see which type of trash should be placed in which colour receptacle. The installation remained in place for a week, reaching more than 200,000 passers-by. It has been shortlisted in the Media Innovation category for the PlakaDiva outdoor advertising awards. Out of trash comes treasure