Image Agency Rethinks Its Watermark to #ClearTheOcean

For nature lovers, there is no better “event organizer” than nature itself. In the air, humans get to admire the birds and insects building their nests or doing their jobs; on the ground, the natural spectacle is split into numerous acts, with each act being played by animals, plants, or other incredible characters; and lastly, the marine life, which stirs humanity’s interest with its incredible stories. Sadly, some new, man-made characters (barely visible a couple of decades ago) have rapidly started to invade these marvelous plays.

Plastic is everywhere, affecting the quality of the air, soil, and water. Plastic bags, PET bottles and packaging are swimming in our oceans. It is not a pleasant view but, at least, it is visible. Unfortunately, most of this plastic turns into microplastics, eventually ending up in our food, raising a huge problem in today’s consumer society. The issue needs to be tackled immediately and is such a big threat to us and to the environment that the UN Environment Assembly passed a historic resolution in Nairobi in early March to end plastic pollution by the end of 2024. While this is a bold, ambitious mission, people might be wondering what is going to happen with the plastic that is already floating in the waters?

The fact is that the Earth’s waters need humans’ help: By adopting an eco-friendly behavior up here, the life down there will continue to thrive naturally, at its own pace. The oldest owner-led German and a leading European picture agency, mauritius images, heard the ocean speaking (or rather, its cry for help) and, just in time for this year’s Global Recycling Day (celebrated on March 18th), the company embarked on a mission to support projects dedicated to keeping the ocean’s waters clean.

Titled “CLEAR THE RIGHTS, CLEAR THE OCEAN,” the campaign, which is brought to life by independent image agency Jung von Matt NECKAR, sees the brand rethinking its watermarking system, turning it into a tool that contributes to taking some of the weight the ocean carries on its waters off. The “plasticmark,” as the brand calls it, is visible on the agency’s pictures showcasing seas and oceans, thus creating a great opportunity for customers and partners to enroll as soldiers in an army that fights for the ocean to keep its waters plastic-free.

Anyone who licenses one of these images frees the photo from the “plasticmark.” But this initiative is way beyond just a symbolic act. When licensing an image, consumers contribute to removing plastic waste from the waters as well, as 33% of the license fee is directed towards international projects, for which the well-being of our oceans is a priority.

Commenting on the campaign, Dirk Hibbeler, Managing Director of Jung von Matt NECKAR, says: “It was important to us to transfer the heritage of mauritius images into the digital age — with a small but effective lever that conveys an important message, and at the same time contributes to solving a problem in an involving way.”

“The idea that we could simply change our watermarks to help change the world immediately excited us,” explains Heide-Marie von Widekind, mauritius images, who hopes that other players in the industry will embrace the idea as well. “It would be great if other picture agencies would follow our example. Because in the end, we all benefit from that. And who knows: Maybe CLEAR THE RIGHTS, CLEAR THE OCEAN will be the start of a new licensing model to be established as a standard in our industry.”

The campaign is planned to run for the next three months and launched with social media ads, having as target audience journalists, art directors, and media designers. All the images that are digitally stamped with the “plasticmark” can be found on mauritius’ webpage.