Creative Direction / Design / Producer
Developed for the Uganda Wildlife Authority in response to the United Nations’ 2009 ‘Year of the Gorilla’ declaration, this project gained recognition from major news outlets like BBC, SKY News, National Geographic, and The New York Times. It was praised as a unique wildlife campaign leveraging social media creatively and for a good cause. Hollywood celebrities also joined in, further boosting its impact.
Campaign Logo
Online/Social
In 2009, Facebook allowed the functionality to create an app that lived on a user’s profile page. I created a “Gorilla Friend” section on Facebook by allowing users who purchased a gorilla friend to showcase their gorillas in an additional section under their regular Facebook “My Friends”. The user would then receive updates from gorillas they befriended and their gorilla friend messages would populate on their profile feed.
Outdoor
Print Ads
Apparel
Commercial/Radio
To gain interest within the Ugandan community we promoted Friend a Gorilla with in-country promotions and opportunities to take part in the FG campaign through the use of their mobile phones. This allowed Ugandans to receive gorilla wallpapers, ringtones and win prizes such as t-shirts and vacation trips to see the gorillas. It was a way to offer Ugandans alternatives to online interaction though still allowing the opportunity to participate in the national campaign.
Dog’s Gorilla Ballad – 1:00
Meet Makara – 1:00
Media Coverage
Friend a Gorilla was covered by news agencies all over the world with major news outlets such as BBC, SKY News and AFP all creating in-depth video pieces on the project. Prior to launch, Friend a Gorilla was trending so high that they saw over 35,000 gorilla friends befriended within the first couple of hours of the main site going live.
