Pollution Probe is highlighting the 17th year of its Clean Air Commute with TTC and GO Transit posters, a 30-second public service announcement and a massive art installation. The Clean Air Commute is an initiative that encourages Torontonians to walk, bike or take transit to work for the week of June 22 to 26. Sharpe Blackmore Euro RSCG handled the creative as well as the media placement.

The campaign will feature a first in Toronto – artwork on the wall of a ramp on the Gardiner Expressway. Stencil artist Lisa Mansfield, with assistance from Mike Jansen of Green Graffiti, will use 4′ x 8′ plywood stencils and power washers to clean the dirt from the walls of a Lakeshore Blvd. to Gardiner onramp, to create a 100′ x 20′ green art mural for the week of the commute.

The artistic concept is devolution, according Matt Cammaert, account director at Sharpe Blackmore Euro RSCG. ‘It’s an artistic message about pollution and the impact you can have on it, rather than an advertising communication.’

The location was chosen because it is highly trafficked, a GO train passes by it and it’s directly below Toronto’s wind turbine. It was also one of the few places in Toronto dirty enough to provide the contrast needed for the art installation. ‘Toronto is actually a very clean city in comparison to some US cities, so when we were looking for locations we found it somewhat difficult to pinpoint where exactly we could clean something where it would provide enough contrast,’ Cammaert tells MiC.

The campaign’s posters and busbacks feature slogans like ‘nothing is possible,’ ‘absolutely nothing to see here’ and ‘are you good for nothing?’ and thanks transit riders for not contributing to pollution, while highlighting the Clean Air Commute.

The ad placements were provided free by the TTC and GO. Sharpe Blackmore Euro RSCG also did the work pro bono. The transit ads will be accompanied by a public service announcement airing on a variety of Rogers stations, as well as CTV, Global, CBC, and monitors in TTC stations.