The earth is warming faster than ever. That's bad news for all of us, but especially turtles, because turtle gender is determined by the temperature of the nest during incubation. It’s gotten to the point that 99% of sea turtles on key nesting sites are being born female. Not sustainable.
So where does Banana Boat come in? Banana Boat’s tagline is "We've Got You Covered." So we thought, let’s extend their family-friendly sun protection to someone who desperately needs it, turtle families.
From there, I reached out to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (the scientists who released the alarming study) and brokered an innovation deal to create “Nest Friend,” a mesh shading solution that would cool the nests.
After convincing them of my worthiness and nerdy-ness, we set out to create a cross-industry collaboration and craft a prototype. The brainstorm was to cost 10K and I would have a seat at the table. The idea was presented to the client, but due to restructuring it fell through the cracks.
Nest Friend was chosen by the J. Walter Thompson creative counsel as one of the most promising ideas in the network.