WWF's guide to a disappearing world

The Norwegian branch of the World Wildlife Fund takes a refreshingly dry approach to the climate crisis in a new campaign created by Smeh.

Directed by Sarah Haag through Fantefilm, the spot is set in the Norwegian Arctic, one of the world's most fragile natural environments. Here, plans by the Norwegian government to allow new oil and gas exploration will exacerbate the destruction of a region where climate change is already happening twice as fast anywhere else on the planet. 

But rather than hammering home warnings about the repercussions of vanishing Arctic ice, it lets an eccentric tourist guide do the talking. Racing visitors around the rapidly disappearing sights – from an elusive lone polar bear to a melting glacier – he admits that he gets “some complaints about the tempo on my tours” but time is of the essence.

Beneath the deadpan comedy lies a sobering message: the Arctic is changing fast, and the window to act is closing.