Ogilvy & Mather “The Face of Litter” Campaign Launches on Global Earth Day to Support Hong Kong Cleanup Challenge
Reston, Va. (April 22, 2015) – Parabon NanoLabs, Inc. (Parabon) announced today the company’s participation in an innovative public service campaign launched by Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong to raise awareness of the staggering litter problem in Hong Kong. In support of the 15th annual Hong Kong Cleanup Challenge, organized by Ecozine and The Nature Conservancy, Ogilvy is using Parabon’s Snapshot™ DNA Phenotyping Service to reveal some of the contributors to the city’s litter epidemic.
Ogilvy targeted key locations in Hong Kong, where a staggering sixteen thousand tons of waste is dumped every day, to collect, analyze and create DNA-based composites of litterbugs using Snapshot™. Poster portraits of the perpetrators will be placed across the city, as well as online. Ogilvy will also promote a video on the social experiment, warning people not to litter at the risk of becoming the next face of litter.
A Snapshot™ composite is a descriptive profile created from any human DNA sample, even minute quantities of DNA deposited by littering. By translating the genetic content of DNA, Snapshot™ predicts physical characteristics including skin pigmentation, eye and hair color, face morphology, sex, and genomic ancestry, and can identify distant familial relationships between samples. Although Snapshot was originally developed as a forensic tool to help generate investigative leads and identify unknown remains, the Ogilvy team is using the service to generate composites of otherwise anonymous litterers as a powerful medium for raising environmental awareness.
“This campaign is one of a kind. It’s our own science experiment that we’re using to create social change. Litter is such a major problem in Hong Kong and thanks to newly available DNA technology from Parabon, we can now put a face to this anonymous crime and get people to think twice about littering,” Reed Collins, Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy & Mather Group Hong Kong explained.
Dr. Ellen McRae Greytak, Parabon’s Director of Bioinformatics added, “While Snapshot is more commonly used within the law enforcement and investigative communities to solve cold cases, this campaign proves Snapshot’s usefulness to the public in a whole new way and we’re delighted to be a part of it.”
About Parabon NanoLabs, Inc.:
Parabon NanoLabs is a vertically integrated DNA technology company that develops next-generation forensic and therapeutic products, which leverage the enormous power of DNA. Staffed by a uniquely qualified team of scientists and technologists, with expertise ranging from bioinformatics and chemistry to computer science and pharmacology, Parabon is bringing to market revolutionary new products and services made possible by recent advances in DNA sequencing, analysis and manufacturing technologies.
