World Wildlife Fund deserves innovation award for billboard  |  June 1, 2007  

A billboard went up recently in Mississauga, Ont., that tries to dramatize global warming and rising water levels by showing a wave graphic slowly moving up the billboard. When I first heard about this I assumed the billboard was motorized and it seem ironic that the World Wildlife Fund would burn electricity to communicate a global warming message.

It turns out I owe the WWF an apology. The billboard actually uses the rising sun, casting a shadow over an awning, to simulate the wave. So the sign is actually solar powered. This is the first of the signs to go up anywhere but the WWF is looking to expand this campaign globally.

Check out a time-lapse video at YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLpvnnu66v8.

This low-tech carbon-neutral tactic, so consistent with the WWF's message, deserves to win the organization a marketing award.

Peter Wolchak