CREATIVE TEAM

WHEN PEOPLE COME TOGETHER, REMARKABLE THINGS HAPPEN.

Key Gordon is an ad agency in Toronto that specializes in all things enviro. A while back, they hatched an idea that would really bring energy conservation to the forefront of Canadian consciousness.

Why are Canadians so behind when it comes to global warming? What if they created a social movement that got people to reduce their energy consumption? What if they got Canadians to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on an unprecedented scale?

Key Gordon spent the winter writing and designing FLICK OFF. It's kind of provocative, but after reading George Monbiot's book Heat and seeing An Inconvenient Truth, well, the situation kind of calls for provocative, don't you think?

It wasn’t long before Environmental Defence offered to be the lead ENGO. Virgin Mobile leapt to the fore. Then two Canadian icons jumped on board: Roots and MuchMusic. How cool is that?!! Then House of Anansi Press agreed to publish a special FLICK OFF edition of the book Climate Change by Shelley Tanaka.

Spring rolled around, and the program took shape. The Ontario Ministry Of Environment lent their support. There were others, too. Like Butterfield & Robinson, Bullfrog Power, Andora Graphics, NOW Magazine, Zoom Media, Clean Air Foundation and the Pembina Institute.

As Virgin Mobile says, “Global warming ain’t cool.” But you know what? People coming together sure is.

 



These days, advertising agencies will shower you in ®s and ™s to explain their ‘proprietary’ approach to branding, marketing and advertising. Our approach is much simpler: we stick slavishly to a conviction that we can make the world a better place. Our approach means we never take on clients strictly for the money. Our approach isn’t always easy.

The things we sell are hard to sell. They are often difficult to locate and much more expensive than what consumers are using now. Organic milk is twice the price. Nobody rushes down to the corner store to save wildlife. Most people simply don’t know that their dry cleaning is anything but clean. And the vast majority of people think there’s an endless supply of electricity surging from their outlets. We are forced to educate as well as advertise on every project.

So you see, we don’t need to ® or ™ our process simply because no one else in the ad industry would ever want to be burdened with it.
Visit www.keygordon.com
 

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

Photography

Jesse Boles is a Toronto-based photographer, represented by the Edward Day Gallery in Toronto. He was born in Mongolia, Ontario. He began photographing while in Hong Kong in 1999, and recently completed his BFA in photography at Ryerson’s School of Image Arts. Previous to his studies in photography, he completed a BA in Architectural Studies at the University of Toronto. His work has been featured in Macleans, Toronto Life, and En Route magazines, and was most recently published in the Magenta Foundation’s Flash Forward 2006 catalogue.

Mark Coatsworth is a freelance editorial and portrait photographer, focusing on underground subcultures in the arts and urban societies. His work has been featured in the National Post, NOW Magazine, Chocolat, and Billboard, as well as on album artwork for numerous extreme metal bands. In 2006, Mark spent several months camping and trekking through the Arctic regions, shooting landscapes and communities at the edge of the earth. His images can be found online at www.markcoatsworth.com.


Jason Thompson loves the fact that he draws for a living. After graduating from Queen's in Sociology and a seven-year career in management and advertising, he followed his true passion and became an artist. This decision resulted in his becoming an illustrator, an animator, and animation director. Currently a freelance illustrator and storyboard artist, his pen has taken aim at a wide variety of subjects having worked with a diverse set of clients such as Butterfield & Robinson, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Zellers and the Toronto Rock.