WaterAid - Ode

Giving Water Its Flowers

It is hard to comprehend just how many people around the world still lack access to safely managed drinking water. 

Roughly one in four.  

More people have access to the internet.  Meaning more people can doomscroll in the middle of the night than get a glass of clean water.  

That just feels… wrong.

WaterAid is the leading charity working to change this. And in the run-up to Christmas, they were looking to drive donations. Unfortunately, so was every other charity.

Compared with other causes, the water crisis can also feel strangely invisible. Especially in the British winter, when water is generally bucketing from the sky and ruining your plans. It is everywhere. Which makes it very easy to overlook.

We wanted people to notice it again. To recognise how extraordinary it is. And how absurdly lucky we are to take it completely for granted. But not in a guilt-trippy way.

People have become very good at blocking out depressing news. So we thought joy might get more attention.

The result was an unashamedly enthusiastic ode to water. A celebration of everything it makes possible, not to mention the small miracle of keeping us alive.

Rainbows and sprinklers. Waterslides, puddles and snowball fights. That moment when a dog sees the sea and briefly loses its mind.

To bring the idea to life, we teamed up with an eclectic mix of animators and filmmakers from around the world. Each brought their own distinctive style, helping us create a multimedia spectacle full of energy, imagination and optimism.

Giving it all a voice was beloved actor Mark Bonnar, who could move effortlessly from delightfully silly to deadly serious without giving the audience whiplash.

By celebrating everything water gives us, we made the reality of living without it feel even starker. Suddenly, something we barely notice felt impossible to lose. And helping someone else get it felt like a very good place to start.

All without a depressing image in sight.