Advertising Legend Julia Plowman On World-Changing Campaigns

Illustrated plastic water bottle showing how long it takes for plastic to break down

When it comes to unconventional activism, advertising industry expert Julia Plowman sets the bar.

After stints working at ABC News, Wieden+Kennedy (where she worked on projects for Nike, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Audi, and Old Spice), and Nike, she shifted her career to focus on solving the world’s biggest problems.

Julia Plowman Portrait

While working with the Nike Foundation, Plowman worked with research that showed investment in young girls could be a uniquely successful strategy for breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty in the developing world.

There were organizations dedicated to adult women or to youth but none yet focused exclusively on girls.

Under the wing of the foundation, Plowman built a brand for this complex approach to combat intergenerational poverty with the goal of fueling momentum and sparking action. They called it The Girl Effect.

The Girl Effect launched with a now-iconic video that, in just over three minutes, clearly communicates the problem, opportunity, and solution.

The video quickly grabbed the world’s attention and has now been viewed more than 2.4 million times on YouTube. Katie Couric introduced it at the Clinton Global Initiative, and it appeared in a branded section airing on Oprah.

The Girl Effect raised the bar for nonprofit communication by elevating impact-driven storytelling to a level it had never been before, paving the way for more unconventional activism to follow.

We asked Plowman, who is the founder of brand strategy company folk, to share three innovative and unconventional ways change-makers have gained attention and moved the needle for good:

Activists Replaced Parisian Metro Maps to Prompt Action for Riders Experiencing Disability

Illustration of French public transit denying access to people with disabilities
No Access / Illustration by Carra Sykes for the Goodnewspaper

Paris has the least accessible metro system in the world. There are 1.3 million people with disabilities living in the greater Paris region, which translates to 12 percent of the population.

However, only nine out of 303 metro stations are accessible for those who have motor disabilities, especially people who use a wheelchair and who struggle with mobility limitations because of age, pregnancy, use of a stroller, or a temporary health condition.

On World Mobility Day in 2019, APF France Handicap (a national movement for representation of people with disabilities) hijacked the Parisian metro maps by covering the 293 non-accessible station maps with a new map showing the only metro line accessible to all people.

The initiative quickly caught the attention of the media, Parisian mayor Anne Hidalgo, and French president Emmanuel Macron. Macron declared 60 percent of the metro would be accessible by 2024.

This public effort supports the long-time activism of disability rights activists and allies who are fighting for 100 percent accessibility.

Why Julia loves it: 

It is brilliantly simple and has sparked real change. All metros should be 100 percent accessible, but 60 percent is a start.

Visitors Take the Palau Pledge to Protect Fragile Islands In the Pacific

Palau is a Pacific island chain of hundreds of natural limestone and volcanic islands, covered in lush forests and surrounded by an aquamarine lagoon. Sounds heavenly, right? Well, large-scale mass tourism threatens to destroy its fragile environment.

Palau is the first nation on earth to change its immigration laws for the cause of environmental protection.

Upon entry, visitors are required to sign a passport pledge to act in an ecologically responsible way on the island, for the sake of Palau’s children and future generations of Palauans.

Why Julia loves it:

This small nation is thinking long-term and trailblazing a new model of conscious tourism.

Advertisers Educate Consumers With Plastic Expiration Date Labels

Plastic Bottle Expiration: 2499 - Please Recycle Me
Plastic Recycling / Illustration by Carra Sykes for the Goodnewspaper

It takes up to 1,000 years for plastic to break down.

Supermarkets aren't acting fast enough to reduce plastics, so two environmentalists and advertising creatives, Gagandeep Jhuti and Joe Foale-Groves, created “plastic expiration date” stickers in a bid to educate consumers about the devastating impact plastic can have on the planet and encourage them to make informed decisions.

The duo shared their vision for the campaign:

"So, imagine this. It’s the year 3019. Animals can now be tried in court. The prisons are overflowing with pigeons. You are no longer around. But the plastic water bottle you bought with your meal deal in 2020 has finally started to decompose. Even if the future isn’t quite as weird as that, it is true that your meal deal could be pretty much immortal."

"At the moment we’ve been sneaking Plastic Expiry Date stickers onto meal deal items ourselves since the start of January, but loads of people have asked to join us in spreading stickers to their local supermarkets."

A plastic water bottle with a sticker added that says "Plastic Expiry Date: 12/01/2499" "Recycle me and I won't end up in the ocean"

"The ultimate goal would be for supermarkets to add the Plastic Expiry Date to packaging themselves, as well as hurrying to reduce single-use plastic packaging from their shelves."

The stickers look like traditional food expiration messages, but their dates are well into the future — past our lifetimes.

Why Julia loves it:

It’s shocking to see the dates and hopefully shocks shoppers into making better choices. 

Julia Plowman is a change-maker and leading expert in brand purpose.

She has lived around the world, bringing her strategic leadership, brand marketing, and social innovation expertise to companies and organizations such as Wieden+Kennedy, Nike, and The Girl Effect.

She’s the founder of folk — which partners with brands to identify, define, and create purpose-inspired strategies that drive business growth and benefit society.

A version of this story originally ran in The Unconventional Activism Edition of the Goodnewspaper in May 2020. The Goodnewspaper is our monthly print newspaper filled with good news.
You can join thousands of subscribers who get access to more exclusive stories like these, our private community space, a free inspiring poster, and so much more. Become a subscriber today.

Article Details

September 6, 2021 2:00 AM
December 20, 2021
On the left, a man and a woman sit in a bright, flowery room looking at art on the wall. On the right, people eat at a table together laden with food.

New art exhibit invites people to talk politics at the dinner table: 'If we can’t speak to each other, I don’t know how we have a democracy'

Family meals have taken on a new kind of tension in recent years as politics become increasingly polarizing. Ahead of Election Day, a museum curator wanted to face that problem head on.
Two images side by side. On the left, a Canadian street sign reads "Taylor Swift Way" in front of a backdrop of downtown Toronto. On the right, Taylor Swift sings on stage in a flowing blue dress

Toronto Eras Tour venue calls on Swifites to do good, matching donations up to $113,000 for local food bank

The Canadian city is Swift’s final stop on The Eras Tour, and the Rogers Centre is pulling out all the stops.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Quote: “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”

19 Powerful Ruth Bader Ginsburg Quotes About Doing Good

In her time on the court, she most notably and ardently fought for the advancement of gender equality, women's rights — and true equality for all. Especially the underrepresented and underserved members of society. All while maintaining bipartisan friendships.
An illustration of a small business storefront

8 Good News Stories About Small Businesses

Running a small business isn't easy. Our culture rewards big, winner-take-all businesses. But small businesses are valuable. By their nature, they have a focus deeper than just profit. These stories celebrate small businesses doing good — and the people who support them.

Want to stay up-to-date on positive news?

The best email in your inbox.
Filled with the day’s best good news.