A team of zombies, The Dead Wallabies, star in a short film to protest Australia's rugby team in France being sponsored by gas company Santos.
The Dead Wallabies are supporting the Fossil Ad Ban campaign which calls for tobacco-style restrictions on advertising and sponsorships by coal, oil and gas because of the climate and health impacts.
The zombies are a collaboration between communications industry collective Comms Declare and climate activist organisation Rouser.
Comms Declare member Alchemy One supported the project with a pro bono digital campaign and FIfty Acres did the publicity.
The advertising industry is under increasing pressure to take a stand on fossil fuel. More than 90 Australian agencies are said to have fossil fuel clients, almost double the 54 agencies in 2022, according to Comms Declare's 2023 F-list research.
Watch the zombies at work:
“This collaboration demonstrates how the combined efforts of people across the ad industry can change the conversation around the terrifying role of fossil fuels in global warming," says Comms Declare founder Belinda Noble.
“You don’t need to eat brains to know that oil and gas companies like Santos are sponsoring sports to delay climate action and ethical agencies are increasingly stepping up to say ‘we need to be the solution, not the problem’.”
Rob Beamish, founder of Rouser, says fossil fuel sponsorship and advertising is insidious.
"It’s a manipulative tactic that props up fossil fuel companies’ social licence and delays urgent, drastic climate action at such a critical time," he says.
The World Cup is sponsored by TotalEnergies, which is the subject of a campaign by Greenpeace.
Dead Wallabies Film Credits
Client: Comms Declare
Project: Fossil Ad Ban
Creative: Rouser
Film Production: Rouser
Director: Rob Beamish, Rouser
Producer: Cory Mulroney
Cinematographer: Shyam Ediriweera
Special Effects: Make-up Effects Group
Editor: Marty Gilchrist, Puffin Post
Sound: Squeak E. Clean
Colourist: Sam McCarthy, Crayon
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