Starting point

The greatest threat facing the Baltic Sea is eutrophication – a phenomenon that ultimately leads to the death of our beloved sea. The signs of the Baltic Sea’s agony are clearly visible and demand attention. Yet amid humanitarian crises and numerous other environmental challenges, the crisis unfolding right before our eyes can be easy to overlook. This is especially true as eutrophication is a complex issue to understand, and its consequences can be difficult to grasp.

The Finnish NGO, the John Nurminen Foundation, has been working to save the Baltic Sea since 1992. Despite its long-standing and crucial mission, the foundation remained largely unknown to the majority of Finns. They needed a way to draw attention to their work while also communicating the issue of eutrophication in a way that would create an emotional connection to the sea.

Strategy & creative approach

The most visible sign of eutrophication is the blue-green algae blooms that color the Baltic Sea’s coastline during the summer. Their appearance eerily resembles one of Finland’s most renowned natural attractions: the Northern Lights. This realization sparked the idea of reframing the algae blooms as a new, poisonous tourist attraction.

By linking the campaign to an internationally recognized phenomenon that Finns proudly present to visitors, the foundation found a striking and impactful way to address eutrophication and its mission. The comparison made a complex environmental issue immediately understandable, delivering a clear message: there are sights Finland can be proud of – but this is not one of them.

The concept of a poisonous tourist attraction came to life through Northern Plights.

Execution

An attention-grabbing visual identity and the name Northern Plights served as the unifying elements across all executions. A satellite photograph of blue-green algae blooms was used as the core visual, appearing deceptively beautiful at first glance. To clarify the campaign’s mission, the visuals were paired with messages urging people to recognize how harmful the sight truly is—and to donate to the John Nurminen Foundation.

Northern Plights launched on World Oceans Day in the summer of 2025 across a mix of online and offline channels. Borrowing familiar conventions from travel marketing, the campaign featured a tourist information site and ironic postcards designed to encourage donations. Online advertising spaces were dominated by the satellite-image visual, while digital out-of-home placements appeared in Finland and in Nice during the UN Ocean Conference.

On social media, a fictional business opportunist named Riikka was created to raise awareness through humor and irony. In addition to appearing on the foundation’s own channels, Riikka engaged audiences on Jodel, where the campaign received enthusiastic organic responses.