Leo Burnett, Sydney’s ‘Monuments’ campaign for WWF Earth Hour inducted into Clio Hall of Fame

Leo Burnett, Sydney’s ‘Monuments’ campaign for the WWF Earth Hour has been accepted into the Clio Hall of Fame in the Out of Home category.

The campaign was created by Michael Canning (now group director at 72andSunny, LA) and Kieran Antill (now ECD at Leo Burnett, New York). Executive creative director credits are shared by current CCO Andy DiLallo and former joint ECD Jay Benjamin, now ECD at Saatchi & Saatchi, New York.

The original Earth Hour campaign was created by then Leo Burnett Sydney ECD Mark Collis and his team – which included planning director Todd Sampson and CEO Nigel Marsh – back in March, 2007, backed by Fairfax Media and the Sydney City Council. In just a few years, Earth Hour went from being an idea that motivated 2.2 million people in Sydney to turn off their lights for an hour to show concerns for climate change, to a worldwide phenomenon. In fact, it grew to be the largest mass participation event in human history.

This HumanKind act drove people to band together, knowing that their action could inspire real change. Transforming the light switch into a vote. A vote for the planet.

Some of the most famously lit places on earth went dark, including the Chrysler Building in New York, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Welcome sign on the Las Vegas Strip, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Sydney Opera House, The Pyramids, the Effiel Tower, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, and thousands of other world icons and heritage sites.

This future-facing, imaginative live outdoor idea changed the focus from creating awareness, to creating action.

It is one of the most awarded campaigns in the history of advertising communication, winning everything including a coveted Cannes Titanium Lion.