Trust us, you’ll want to know this dirtbag. In this case, the dirtbag isn’t a person but a campaign designed by students Rebecca Antonucci (B.F.A., advertising, senior) and Stefanie Gomez (B.F.A., advertising, senior) to increase awareness and adoption of composting in Detroit. The Dirtbag Project is their answer to this challenge posed by advertising agency Team Detroit: create a ‘trashvertising’ campaign to boost urban farming and compost supply. Rebecca and Stefanie are one team of three finalists who will pitch their project at SXSW in hopes of actually getting it made. Vote here by March 13 to help get their dirtbags to Detroit.
SCAD: Give us the fast version of the pitch you’ll make at SXSW?
Rebecca Antonucci: Using the paper bag as a medium really has potential to be adopted by Detroit because it doesn’t complicate things, but rather just puts something people already use to a better use. The bag allows us to put all the composting info they need directly into the hands of the target audience. Most grocery stores already have this option, so all we would need to do would be to replace their existing bags with the dirtbags.
S: The word dirtbag conjures all manner of images. Is there an association there that you believed would draw a reaction?
RA: We got pretty lucky with the dirtbag concept. As the copywriter, I loved the idea of using the word to get people’s attention and create an irony in having people with a negative connotation do something positive for the world. Stefanie, the art director, came up with using compostable brown bags as our media, and to put all the info someone needs in order to compost right there on the bag. It allowed us to pair attitude and intrigue with a solid, simple, and doable idea.
S: It really is such a simple idea. Did it start that way? How did you winnow it down to this?
RA: It did not start there, but we knew we had to do something simple since the brief required it. We researched, talked to urban farmers, and constantly asked ourselves, ‘How can we make something different?’ We wanted to find a media that hadn’t really been used to promote composting, but that didn’t drastically change our target’s daily routine. Then, when we both had our dirtbag ideas, it just clicked.
Professor of design for sustainability Scott Boylston:
The Dirtbag Project is effective because it's fun, easy, informative, engaging, and viral. This is a great example of design's power to help us all lead more sustainable lives. - Scott Boylston
S: What advertising trends did you tap into to come up with the creative?
RA: We tapped into satirical work, like Droga5’s Newcastle campaigns, "Dumb Ways To Die", and "The Onion." We also found examples of agencies using things like grocery receipts in new ways to help us find a new media to use for the campaign.
S: What are some of your favorite cause marketing campaigns and what have you learned from them?
Stefanie Gomez: "Dumb Ways To Die." It’s just a funny way to talk about train safety. Instead of saying 'STAY BEHIND THE YELLOW LINE', they said, 'It’s just as dumb as poking a toaster with a fork.' Even though I don’t live in Australia, after seeing that, I pledged to be safe around trains.
RA: I really enjoy Chipotle’s "Cultivate a Better World" campaign. Sometimes it’s easy to take an emotional route with a cause campaign and kind of hit the target in the gut, but I feel like this campaign gets an emotional concept across in a way that actually makes a statement. It’s not just meant to make you tear up, but to change your habits for a better purpose, and you want to after watching the spots.
S: What did you notice, good or bad, about other composting campaigns out there?
RA: One, there aren’t many. Two, most involve a lot of statistics used to “scare” us into composting. Three, they seem to cater to people who already take actions similar to composting, rather than going after people who don’t consider it at all.
Maybe the tone of their campaign is rubbing off on us, but we feel pretty confident that Stefanie and Rebecca 'have this one in the bag.'
