Watch: why GSK brought a giant Air Bubble to Cop26
GlaxoSmithKline brand Otrivin revealed an air purifying ‘Bubble’ at Cop26 last week. The Drum caught up with its brand boss about what it wants to achieve with the installation.
Otrivin has been on a mission to raise awareness of the devastating health impact of air pollution, particularly on children.
It first revealed the concept of the Air Bubble – an air-purifying bio-technological playground – in Warsaw, Poland, last year.
It was devised by Saatchi & Saatchi London and designed by ecoLogicStudio, an architecture firm specializing in biotechnology.
The Bubble is an interactive air-purifying installation, made 99% of air, water and living algae cultures, wrapped into a thin, transparent, 100% recyclable membrane. The microalgae captures carbon dioxide and actively filters and re-metabolizes pollution particles before releasing fresh clean oxygen into the space.
The measurement of the air quality for the Air Bubble experiment in Warsaw showed air quality levels inside the ‘Bubble’ playground were much healthier than outside.
Cop26 was the obvious choice as the next stop for the installation.
Otravin’s global brand director Farhad Nadeem said: “The World Health Organization tells us 93% of the world’s children breathe in polluted air. We want to show there are means and ways to reduce air pollution.”
It proved to be a popular attraction at Cop26. On the day The Drum visited, hundreds of school children attending the event patiently queued for their turn in the Bubble, with Nadeem diligently greeting each to explain how it worked.
“There’s a delight that comes from design. You can educate and delight children at the same time,” he said of its popularity.
Watch the full interview in the video above and catch up on The Drum’s coverage from Cop26 here.