Arctic Basecamp
Forced Break
Arctic Basecamp’s Forced Break campaign set out to show the pace of climate change by connecting it to the hydration breaks introduced during the World Cup, turning a straightforward rule change into a story about a warming world. BF Media was brought in to secure broadcast opportunities for co-founder Professor Gail Whiteman.
The Result
Pieces of Coverage
Pieces of TV Coverage
Reach
The Challenge
By the time we came on board, the World Cup was already ten games in, and hydration breaks had become old news, broadcasters had covered the story and moved on. Therefore the task was finding a fresh way back into a conversation that had already run its course.
Turning a Hydration Break Into a Broadcast Moment
49 matches were expected to carry performance-impairing heat, with players losing focus and sharpness once dehydration passes two per cent of body weight. Climate projections suggest all but two of this year’s host stadiums could be unplayable within 25 years.The breakthrough came with a heatwave hitting the UK, paired with widespread coverage in the US of “heat domes” building across several states. Between the two, heat and its impact on daily life was suddenly back in the news on both sides of the Atlantic, giving Gail’s message a live, current hook rather than a rehash of old hydration break coverage.
Timing the Pitch
We waited for a game that would be played in particularly stifling heat. To bring the coverage, we utilised access to Arctic Basecamp founder Professor Gail Whiteman, a climate scientist and Professor-in-Residence at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Her work at Arctic Basecamp has taken climate risk directly to global decision-makers at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The approach landed Gail on BBC News Channel, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC London, BBC Business Live and Fox News.
