Tag: Sydney Water

Australia – In Sydney, there’s a growing crisis. Sydneysiders are flushing everything, but the kitchen sink down their toilets, causing blockages that cost Sydney Water a whopping $27M a year.

Continuing the momentum of the Toilet Blockers Anonymous campaign, launched in 2024, Sydney Water, with creative agency It’s Friday, tackle the issue right where it counts – the toilet itself. The solution comes in an unexpected form: a self-help guide with a cheeky twist – world-first ‘Toilet Blockers Anonymous – Flushable Guidebook.’

Created in partnership with eco-friendly toilet paper brand Who Gives A Crap, the guide is printed directly onto loo rolls. Each sheet delivers a humorous but educational reminder of what not to flush down the toilet, from dental floss to hair…and even golf balls. The roll ends with a final pledge to stop blocking habits for good.

To make the message impossible to ignore, the campaign landed straight in bathrooms across Sydney. Led by plumber influencers, such as @SydneyPlumberChick, plumbers across Sydney hand-delivered guidebooks during real-life toilet unblocking visits—catching, but also helping, culprits red-handed.

By reaching Sydneysiders where it matters most—their bathrooms—Sydney Water hopes to flush out bad habits and keep the city’s pipes flowing freely.

Tim Barrett, digital marketing manager at Sydney Water, said, “We needed a way to grab people’s attention where it matters most—literally in their bathrooms. Blockages are expensive and entirely preventable. This campaign delivers an unforgettable reminder right where behaviour change happens.”

Meanwhile, Vince Lagana, CCO at It’s Friday, commented, “Humour has the power to drive real change, especially when it meets people in everyday moments. By turning a roll of toilet paper into a scroll of knowledge, we’re flushing out bad habits—one sheet at a time.”

Australia – To remind Sydneysiders how important quality water is to their lives, and the role Sydney Water plays in delivering it to them, agency It’s Friday has created an educational and entertaining campaign featuring three time/3 x Olympic Gold Medallist, Jess Fox.

For Sydney Water, the campaign addresses the status quo of how Few Sydneysiders ever stop to think about the water that comes out of their tap. And even fewer are aware of all the steps Sydney Water goes through to make sure that everyone in Sydney can enjoy some of the best and safest water in the world.  

Starting on a beautiful Sydney waterway, Jess takes us on a tour of the city with a twist: she’s in a canoe that can be rowed to any location in Sydney, whether it’s a tabletop or a garden bed.

Over the course of the commercial, she unexpectedly rows into the lives of several water users. Each of them ends up joining Jess in her canoe as she rows across Sydney, including one of the dedicated experts at Sydney Water, who filter, clean, and test Sydney’s water at every stage of its journey from dam to tap.

Jess’s journey makes a simple point that few think about: water is an essential part of Sydney life. And Sydney Water works tirelessly to look after that water.

Whilst delivering an important message that Sydney’s water doesn’t simply come straight out of a dam, the campaign is light and fun in tone, reflecting the way water helps us enjoy so much of Sydney life.

Speaking on her involvement in the campaign, Jess said, ”If you live in Sydney, your life is tied to water. But it’s not just about our lakes, rivers and beaches. We need clean and reliable water for our morning coffees, parks and gardens, backyard pools – it’s part of everything that makes Sydney great. That’s why this campaign is so important. It lets everyone know what Sydney Water does, and why we should never take our water for granted.”

Elise Barker, head of brand, media and marketing at Sydney Water said, “As Sydney grows so does its demand for water. So it’s more important than ever for people to understand the role we play in delivering drinking water that’s clean and safe to our 5.4 million customers. Because without our water, Sydney just wouldn’t be Sydney.”

Meanwhile, Vince Lagana, CCO of It’s Friday, commented, “Sydney’s water isn’t just any water, it’s the life force of everything we love about our great city. To help Sydneysiders realise its importance, the campaign leads them on a fun journey educating and reminding them how vital water is to the city and that it doesn’t just come straight out of a dam.”

Sydney, Australia – In a humorous attempt to fix the problem with Sydney’s sewer blockages, Sydney Water has teamed up with creative agency It’s Friday in a new campaign to call out Sydneysiders’ bad flushing habits. 

Sydney Water and It’s Friday aim to spotlight the alarming issue that 55% of Sydneysiders still believe it’s acceptable to flush more than just the ‘3Ps’ (pee, poo, and toilet paper). This misconception leads to over 20,000 sewer blockages annually, costing $27 million in clean-up expenses.

The campaign will run across film, social media, radio, print, and PR. In the film, errant flushers, dubbed ‘Toilet Blockers’, candidly share their incorrect flushing habits, highlighting their contribution to the city’s growing problem of blocked sewers.

Furthermore, the film introduces a support group called Toilet Blocker’s Anonymous that educates ‘Toilet Blockers’, teaching them that only the 3Ps should be flushed down the toilet and nothing more.

Elise Barker, acting head of brand, media, and marketing at Sydney Water, said, “This is a serious issue in our wastewater network and a significant problem right across Greater Sydney. We wanted to use humour to make people think twice about what they’re flushing down the toilet. The 3Ps may be simple to learn, but we needed a memorable and engaging way to encourage people to rethink their behaviour. It’s Friday’s ‘Toilet Blockers’ campaign does just that.”

Vince Lagana, CCO of It’s Friday, added, “The message is simple: if you flush inappropriately, you’re part of a hidden group of everyday Sydneysiders who must break their bad flushing habits before it breaks their toilet. You may not know it, but you are a toilet blocker. It’s not often you get to communicate a message that’s serious but also so awkward; it’s tailor-made for comedy. We’ve had a great time bringing it to life, and we’ve all learned things along the way. Like, who knew tissues shouldn’t be flushed?”

Australia – Sydney Water partners with creative agency It’s Friday for its latest water conservation campaign that spotlights water conservation ways with iconic water-wasting character ‘Bob’.

The campaign presents a TVC that features the character ‘Bob’, who is joined by his ten-year-old self. In the TVC, Little Bob picks on Bob’s water-wasting ways and highlights the simple steps everyone else can take to conserve it.

Bob is a character that has become synonymous with Sydney Water, and It’s Friday’s task was to bring this beloved character to life in the campaign.

The creative agency brings in Aussie actor Shane Jacobson to play Bob. Meanwhile, a nation-wide search for a 10-year-old boy was conducted to find someone who has the same bone structure as Shane. all of this to fit his mini-beard made out of human hair and make the match as close as humanly possible.

The water conservation campaign will appear across TV, radio, OOH, and social channels.

Sydney Water’s campaign comes as signs of an expected dry summer, and returning El Nino conditions pose a risk of possible water restrictions for the city.

Megan Miller, head of brand at Sydney Water, said, “Sydney Water is delighted to be partnering with Its Friday to create cut-through, clever advertising to spike awareness around the very serious issue of water conservation as we approach the prospect of another drought. Enticing Sydney to save water isn’t an easy task, particularly with unpredictable weather and fluctuating dam levels.”

She added, “It’s Friday injected new life into our long-running Bob campaign, ensuring that its water-saving message will be noticed by as many Sydneysiders as possible at this crucial time for our water supply.”

Speaking on the campaign, Vince Lagana, CCO and co-founder of It’s Friday, also shared, “We’re taught to save water as kids, but over time, apathy sets in. Little Bob hits his older self and Sydneysiders with a truth bomb: You know not to waste water; you have always known, and you need to stop doing it.”

Sydney, Australia – Sydney Water, the organization that manages the environment and health of the city’s waterways, has recently released a new water-saving campaign titled ‘Turn it off, Bob’, with the aim to remind Sydneysiders to conserve water.

Done in collaboration with advertising agency Clemenger BBDO Sydney, the new quirky campaign features Australian actor and conservationist, Shane Jacobson as Bob. The debut spot, in what will become an episodic series, introduces an unwitting Bob enjoying a very long, hot shower until his water-wasting ways get the better of him.

Maryanne Graham, Sydney Water’s General Manager of Customer, Strategy and Engagement, shared that they have had great success in reducing water consumption through education campaigns that traditionally run during the hotter summer months.

“This campaign highlights that it’s the behaviors we adopt all year round that ultimately help us keep water in our dams in periods of low rainfall. Shane’s passion for water and his tremendous ability to cut through is a great match for Sydney Water. Our customers have told us they want to know more about how they can save water and this campaign is all about doing just that,” said Graham.

Meanwhile, Brendan Willenberg, the executive creative director of Clemenger BBDO Sydney, said that they needed a way to remind Sydneysiders to think twice and be water-wise. 

“Bob is a ripping character to deliver this message in a tongue-in-cheek way and Shane is just perfect for the role given his incredible personal commitment to water conservation. There’s lots more of Bob and his handy water-wise hints coming this year, we can’t wait to share it,” said Willenberg.

The campaign is already running across TV, OOH, and digital, as well as social channels. Future spots will be launched at the start of spring and during The Ashes cricket series in January 2022.