Sea Shepherd: Smoking kills the ocean / Brand Station, Paris, France

A single cigarette butt can pollute up to 500 liters of water. Cigarette butts pollute the ocean even more than straws and plastic bags do. Every year, billions of them end up in the ocean, carried away by the wind, the rain, in rivers or in pipes, after having been carelessly thrown in the streets. On World Oceans Day, it is urgent to raise awareness on this serious matter. “The White Tide” is the name of Sea Shepherd’s campaign, which aims to denounce how cigarette butts are polluting and killing the oceans and their wildlife. In order to make this ecological cataclysm tangible, the association created a strong metaphorical image: a viscous & sticky tide that looks like an oil spill but whose texture and colors (white and yellow) are similar to those of cigarettes.