Kiwis urged to give Shane Jones the finger in new WWF campaign via The Monkeys Aotearoa

New Zealanders are being called on to give Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones “the finger” in a cheeky new campaign launched this week via The Monkeys Aotearoa, to dramatically boost marine protection in Aotearoa.

WWF-New Zealand is urging Kiwis to get behind its call for 30% of New Zealand’s ocean to be placed within Marine Protected Areas by 2030 – by “kicking up a stink” and sending the Minister a message he can’t ignore.

Taking the seemingly humble fish finger and turning it into a symbol of protest, the new campaign from WWF invites Kiwis to take a stand by giving the Minister the finger until he commits to expanding marine protection.

Despite New Zealand committing in 2022 to the global target of ‘30 by 30’, less than one percent of our country’s ocean territory is safeguarded. This lack of protection puts us in joint ‘last place’ globally with Russia and China.

Our ocean’s health is in crisis, with pollution, rampant overfishing and the impacts of climate change pushing fragile marine habitats and species to the brink.

WWF-New Zealand’s CEO, Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, says the tongue-In-cheek campaign draws on Kiwis’ irreverent sense of humour to highlight the serious issues facing our ocean: “With this campaign we’re poking a bit of fun at the issue and drawing on Kiwis’ sense of humour, but behind it there’s a really serious message at play, because we are – quite literally – killing our ocean.

“I hope that if we can get the public on board, it will be a wake-up call for Shane Jones that Kiwis don’t want to see commercial fishing and seabed mining prioritised over the treasured native species and places that make us who we are.

“We know New Zealanders care deeply about our blue backyard. Many of us live by the coast and feed our families or earn a living from the sea. But if we don’t do something to reverse its alarming decline, we face a very real future where snapper is a luxury of the past and our grandchildren never get to encounter a Hector’s dolphin in the wild.

“Shane Jones has been crystal clear that driving export-led economic growth is his number one priority, at whatever cost – even if that means pushing our threatened native species to extinction and plunging our ocean into a further state of decline. We urge Kiwis to take a stand with us and send him a message he can’t ignore.”

People can head to www.giveshanejonesthefinger.co.nz to send an email directly to the Minister with a digital fish finger and a request to commit to protecting 30% of our ocean by 2030. Kiwis can share the campaign video, or download other social media assets, and are being encouraged to tag the Minister on their social media channels.

Rolling out across out of home, digital channels, street posters, social media, influencers and PR, the campaign has already garnered media attention and interest from advocacy groups, the general public and Shane Jones himself – who has told WWF to “stick to its knitting” and said that “the majority of Kiwis are concerned about their economic prospects, not being intimidated by green eco-catastrophising.”

For more information visit www.giveshanejonesthefinger.co.nz

Client: WWF New Zealand

Chief Executive Officer Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb
Communications Manager: Caitlin Owers
Creative Agency: The Monkeys Aotearoa

Chief Creative Officer: Damon Stapleton
Chief Business Officer: Storm Day
Senior Strategist: Craig McLeod
Head of Integrated Production: Rosie Grayson
Group Business Director: Ruth Coulson
Creative Director: James Conner
Creative Director: Christie Cooper
Art Director: Zac Nairn
Copywriter: Casey Clarke
Senior Designer: Amy Cole
Senior Finished Artist: Lisa Stowers
Public Relations: Kimberly Kastelan
Principal Director – Digital: Ray Chan
Front End Development: Samuel Chalmers

Production Company: Toybox

Animation Director: Andrew Newland
Animator: Markus Kristensen
Executive Producer: Nanette Miles
Producer: Vicki O’Leary

Audio: Liquid Studios

Sound Engineer Andy Morton
Composition: Peter van der Fluit

Media Agency: MBM NZ

Group Business Director: Georgia McNaught
Senior Planner/Buyer: Kayleigh Besseling
Junior Planner/Buyer: Ella Newell