Toyota’s Mirai, the company’s hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is so eco friendly that even its ads are helping others breathe easier.
The Toyota Mirai eco-billboard campaign, in coordination with its agency Saatchi & Saatchi and Clear Channel Outdoor Americas, will help clear the air from April 3rd through May 28th.
“The Mirai, ‘Vehicle of Change’ campaign doesn’t just talk about what the future could be, it is an active participant in creating that better future today,” Marc d’Avignon, Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi told DIVERGE.
The billboards have a “catalytic converter” which uses a titanium dioxide coated vinyl to purify the surrounding air. When oxygen reacts with the energized titanium dioxide catalyst, NOx is converted to nitrate and removed from the air. The light-activated, smog-reducing billboards continue to purify the air as long as light, humidity, airflow and the titanium dioxide coating are present.
Toyota has purchased thirty-seven billboards in Los Angeles and San Francisco, which will create 24,960 square feet of pollution scrubbing surface and reverse the equivalent of 5,285 vehicles worth of nitrogen dioxide (NOx) emissions per month.
DIVERGE talked to Mark Angelacos, Advanced Technology General Manager, Toyota Motor North America, Inc and Marc d’Avignon, Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi to find out more:
Where did the idea for this campaign come from?
d’Avignon: Saatchi & Saatchi had been evaluating a number of out-of-home advertising concepts for our client Toyota leading up to this campaign. We wanted to find something really unique so that the medium would amplify the unique message about the Mirai, Toyota’s fuel cell, hydrogen-powered vehicle. When Clear Channel Outdoor approached Saatchi & Saatchi with this idea, we saw it as a perfect fit. – Marc d’Avignon, Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi
Who is the team behind it?
d’Avignon: Toyota, Saatchi & Saatchi, Clear Channel Outdoor America, PURETi Group, LLC (the developer of the the Titanium Dioxide coating technology) as well as the company that prints Clear Channel’s billboards – Vincent Printing Company.
Why is this significant?
d’Avignon: As Toyota continues developing and investing in hybrid vehicles like the Prius and the Mirai, Toyota’s hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle – just as importantly, we want to re-think how we can make everything we do behind the scenes and the way we advertise more sustainable as well. This new eco-billboard campaign is a perfect example of that.
What kind of response did you see at the summit?
Angelacos: The Environmental Media Association (EMA) IMPACT Summit brings together entrepreneurs, investors, actors and film executives who share a passion for creating sustainable businesses and advocating for the environment. We received a very positive response from EMA, its board members, attendees and the press at the event.
We launched our eco-billboard messaging and had an Air-Cleaning Eco-Car-Wrapped Mirai onsite because this was the perfect audience to share this project with. All guests at the EMA Impact Summit are like-minded environmental pioneers and share a passion for causes like this that could have a monumental effect on the environment. Attendees at the event were able to see this technology in-person with the Mirai vehicle display, coated with Titanium Dioxide, which purified the air as guests entered the event.
Why is being environmentally conscious important for Toyota?
Angelacos: Toyota is committed to becoming more sustainable. In 2015, we launched the Global Environmental Challenge 2050, an ambitious set of six challenges that ultimately will create a net positive impact on the planet.
The first three challenges focus on carbon and call for completely eliminating – not just reducing – greenhouse gas emissions from all vehicles, operations, as well as our supply chain. The fourth challenge addresses water availability and quality. And the fifth and sixth challenges seek to move closer to a recycling-based society and protect nature. Initiatives like these this eco-billboard campaign enables Toyota to accomplish our goals ahead of schedule.
