‘Save me’ Message Wins iPad for Ella

‘Save me!’ The simple cry of a water drop heading for the drain was the winning idea in the Upper Hutt City Council’s ‘Make an ad, win an iPad’ competition, promoting water conservation.

UPPER HUTT, Wellington NZ, 28 MAY 2012—Ferguson Intermediate schoolgirl Ella Wagstaff (11), of Riverstone Terraces, won her high tech prize by creating an effective message the old fashioned way—using coloured pencils and paper.

“I have never entered a competition before. After I saw the billboards I wanted to give it a go,” says Ella. Ella thought that a talking water drop would be both eye catching and simple to read—a versatile idea that the judges agreed with, it turned out.

“Ella’s ad is strong and clear, which is exactly what you want from a message that’s trying to change behaviour and promote water conservation all year round,” says Upper Hutt City Council’s sustainability advisor, Roderick Boys. “And we can see this image and idea being used in lots of different ways: billboards, print, web, even in video.”

Judges were looking for originality, effectiveness, and utility in submissions, and awarded three runner-up prizes. One prize was awarded for a video about a shameless water waste (Jessica Buckham and friends of Totora Park), another for the 10 Commandments of water conservation (Ariana Simons of Silverstream), and a third for a ‘Russian roulette’ image using a water tap (Eden Stocker of Birchville). The runners-up received family passes to H2O Xtream

“We’re looking forward to incorporating these ideas into future Council messages about using water carefully, as water conservation is also a form of energy conservation which saves our city money,” says Mr Boys.

Ella says she is very much looking forward to using her new iPad for drawing and many other applications.

“Upper Hutt City Council would like to thank every entrant for contributing to the campaign to use water wisely in our city. We hope you’ll all continue to spread the word, and keep up with your creative work,” says Mayor Wayne Guppy.

ENDS

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