Act on CO2: Bedtime Story

"Is there a happy ending?" – The Act on CO2 campaign provides a nightmarish story-book vision of the future

Campaign films can encourage, inspire, energise or motivate. But they can also provoke, shock and upset. This 30-second film from the Act on CO2 campaign turned the cosy setting of a child’s bedtime story into a frightful vision of the world they might inherit in decades to come – complete with floods, droughts and animal suffering, all rendered in an illustrated picture-book style.

It clearly struck a nerve. Within two weeks of the film's launch in October 2009, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) received 357 complaints from members of the public. The Act on CO2 campaign as a whole received almost 1000 complaints in total, accusing it of being upsetting, misleading and untrue.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Joan Ruddock issued a statement defending the tone, messaging and creative approach of the campaign, saying: "The ad is directed at adults, but we know that the proposition to 'protect the next generation' is a motivating one. Climate change is not just a problem for generations of people far in the future, it is happening now, it affects us and our children, and we owe it to them to take action now to prevent its worst effects."

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Climate Challenges: Environmental Issues on Screen

How green causes have been covered and communicated on screen, from acid rain to global warming.

Issues related to climate and the environment are never far from the forefront of public debate and, from the 1990s onwards, the topic of global warming was brought very close to home by a succession of government campaigns tasked with raising awareness about the impact our everyday energy use has on the world around us.

To encourage us to use our cars less, or turn down our thermostats, or adopt a series of energy efficiency guidelines, the powers that be corralled all the ingenuity of the creative sector. And so, be they painted, celeb-filled, funny, heart-breaking or stop-motion animated, these short films appealed to our hearts (and our bank balances) in a bid to save the planet.

This collection places these public information films in dialogue with other environmentally-minded works, ranging from activism to news reports, children's programming to industrial films, to fill out a complex and wide-ranging story that has never been more relevant.

28 videos in this collection

Public information film about global warming

Helping The Earth: Cry

1992

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Are You Doing Your Bit? Campaign 1999/2000

2000

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UNEP Conference: Ozone

1990

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DEFRA Climate Challenge

2006

“It’s like Blackpool illuminations up here!” – Dad turns green after seeing the household’s latest energy bills

Act on CO2: Standby & Loft

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Act on CO2: Ice Caps

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Act on CO2: Chimney

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