Following the release of a Environmental Defence report documenting the number of toxins fetuses are exposed to in the womb, the non-profit organization has partnered with Diamond Integrated Marketing on a YouTube video to raise awareness of the chemicals present in products Canadians use everyday.
Environmental Defence released the report called Pre-Polluted: A report on toxic substances in the umbilical cord blood of Canadian newborns last month. Some of the toxins studied are linked to serious health issues such as cancer and developmental and reproductive problems. The non-profit has since received national media attention from the likes of CTV National News and others.
Stephanie Kohls, director of communications at Environmental Defence, said the non-profit approached Diamond to create a video depicting children attempting to pronounce the toxic chemicals found in their bodies – words such as “hexachlorobenze.” The spot ends with the tagline “Before they can even say it, it’s already in them.”
The video, called “Pre-Polluted,” is airing on YouTube, Environmental Defence’s website and on the organization’s social media channels. It is being promoted with ads on Facebook and YouTube.
Environmental Defence is also reaching out to “Mommy Bloggers” to cover the report and will be running digital ads on some parenting magazine sites and with Now Magazine, a Toronto free weekly magazine.
“Pre-Polluted” is part of a larger effort called the “Toxics Campaign” that lobbies industry and government to ban and remove harmful chemicals from products, to establish clear, strict timelines for removing chemicals, and to test chemicals used in consumer products for toxic effects before they can be sold to Canadians.
Elements of “Pre-Polluted” will be rolled out in stages, Kohls said, and the campaign will run into the fall.
