Sydney Doesn’t Suck campaign developed by Sydney agencies wins at Good Food Awards

The Sydney Doesn’t Suck collaboration, led by City of Sydney councillor Jess Miller, has walked away with the Food for Good Award at the National Good Food Guide’s 2018 Awards in Melbourne last night. The award, which celebrates innovation, charity and sustainability was presented to the campaign, a movement drawing attention to the positive work Sydney’s bars, hospitality and entertainment venues are doing to limit their use of single-use plastic straws.

Miller in collaboration with media partner, Time Out, creative agencies Paper Moose and Republic of Everyone and PR agency The Bravery got together to bring the campaign to life and start to tackle the 10 million straws that are used by Australians each day and 3.6 billion straws are used annually.

Says Miller: “To get this acknowledgment from the sector and watch the growing support from hundreds of venues across Sydney has been amazing. Who would have thought dressing up like a seal, looking like a wally, would be one of my biggest career highlights to date.

“It’s all been for a good reason though, given that the commitment just from the Sydney Opera House precinct alone means that more than two million turtle-choking straws will not be used within the next year, that’s a pretty incredible outcome.”

Says Michael Rodrigues, from Time Out who saw the potential of the campaign and to champion as a key industry influencer: “With the spotlight on Sydney’s night-time economy often focusing on discussions around policing, lockout and red-tape review, it tends to obscure the good work that the hospitality sector is doing to encourage wider positive social change.

“We saw supporting this campaign as an easy entry point for improved sustainable practices across the industry. If our councillor Jess Miller is willing to get dressed up as a seal in furtherance of the cause then I reckon that’s the least we can do.”

To get the campaign off the ground, Miller brought the idea to creative and sustainability agency Republic of Everyone who directly invested into the campaign’s brand and creative development, “Sydney doesn’t suck, but straws sure do. And they’re such a widespread issue that it was always going to take a widespread coalition of motivated people to bring some change” says Ben Peacock, founder, Republic of Everyone.

Adds Peacock: “We’re just honoured to have played a role and grateful that so many people are willing to be part of it – especially the patrons themselves who have shown themselves happy to give up a small convenience for a much bigger greater good.”

The light-hearted video campaign,which features talent from Sydney bars The Lord Gladstone and This Must Be The Place, was created by production agency Paper Moose.

Says Nick Hunter, creative director, Paper Moose: “When Jess approached us it was a no-brainer to throw our collective of artists together. Everyone here is passionate about the way we treat our planet, which made it a really enjoyable project to be a part of.

“As this is a behaviour change campaign we decided to use the mechanic of showing how unacceptable it is to use single use plastic straws when you order a drink, and encourage people and bar owners to think again about asking for them. We have found that in the past, humour has been a great way to cut through and create real behaviour change, we found this in our latest Hey Tosser campaign and applied the same thinking in this fun spot.”

For-purpose PR and Communications agency, The Bravery knew this was going to be a story they wanted to share and led the media campaign seeing nearly 30 pieces of coverage reaching over 2.5 million people, including a Good Food front cover in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Says Claire Maloney, director, The Bravery: “We’ve all experienced that sucky moment when you’re sitting at a bar and ask the bartender to hold the straw, only to look down and find two in your drink.

“Telling this story has played an important part in encouraging more venues across Sydney to join the movement, and patrons to demand less straws – and this directly answers our mission as a business when it comes to creating greater positive impacts through PR.”

Venues that have committed to going plastic straw free are listed at www.laststraw.com.au.

Media Partner: Time Out – Michael Rodrigues, Managing Director

PR Agency: The Bravery – Claire Maloney, Director