Watch a thumb scroll its way to the top of Mount Everest in new ad for Belong
Australian internet company Belong has taken a brilliantly quirky approach to promote its carbon-neutral mobile and internet plans.
A new spot, 'Thummit’, follows the story of a human thumb taking on the elements as it climbs Mt. Everest. Depicting the adversities the thumb must overcome, including blizzards, vultures and a Nepalese mountain yak, the ad aims to highlight that the average Australian scrolls the height of Mt. Everest – 8,849m - on their phones every month.
And, with every scroll contributing more energy consumption and higher carbon emissions, the masterful ad, created by Howatson+Company, directed by Peter Martin of Hooves with VFX by Heckler, aims to reinforce Belong's positioning as a carbon-neutral telco.
"While the carbon impact of energy, food and transport on the environment is well understood, few are aware of the carbon impact from their phone usage," says Aaliah Eggins-Bryson, head of product and marketing at Belong. "We wanted to link the issue to a behaviour people could relate to, scrolling on their mobile phones, in a way that really grabbed their attention.”
Gavin Chimes, ECD at Howatson+Company, adds: “Everest is a long way to climb for a human with legs. It’s even longer for a human thumb without them. Yet every month, our thumbs scroll that very distance. This fact was the perfect launch point for us to create a campaign to educate people about what that means for the environment. And show that with Belong’s carbon neutral mobile and internet, you can feel good about scrolling.”
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The campaign is running across TV, outdoor, radio, social and digital channels.