Ooh, Ahh, Wow!

The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) is launching a £100,000 billboard campaign to promote wind power this autumn. From 1 November, over 350 posters will go on display at 120 locations throughout the UK as part of Embrace the Revolution, a national campaign to give a voice to the silent majority of people - 74% - who support wind energy. This is the first time a billboard campaign has focused on the issue of wind energy. The campaign concentrates on locations where there is either an existing wind farm or an application to build one. The 48-sheet posters play on the visual and environmental power of wind turbines, with the message “Also generating oohs, ahhs and wows“.

BWEA's Chief Executive, Marcus Rand, said “This campaign is intended to challenge people's perceptions of wind turbines. It's saying not only do they benefit the environment and help tackle climate change, they are also stunning. As campaign champion Chris Tarrant says they are ’modern day guardian angels’. A common myth is that wind turbines are ugly, a blot on the landscape. We know the public doesn't agree." The ads, which run until mid-November, feature members of the public who love their local wind farms and encourage people to show their support for wind by signing an online petition at www.embracewind.com. The name of every supporter will go on four new wind turbines to be erected across the UK in 2005.

Embrace the Revolution is an integrated communications campaign being run by issues-specialists The Forster Company, working with Rise Communications who have developed the advertising strategy and media buyers, Concord Outdoor. Other elements of the campaign include a media relations campaign, a website and online petition, and a photo exhibition featuring the work of four Magnum photographers, currently showing at the British Airways London Eye. Along with Chris Tarrant, the campaign has harnessed the support of other high profile names including Coldplay's Guy Berryman, Tom Dixon, Zac Goldsmith, Wayne Hemingway, Norman Foster, The Bishop of Liverpool, Ken Livingstone, Kevin McCloud, Marks Barfield, the designers of the London Eye, Anita Roddick, Simon Schama and Polly Toynbee.

For further information on the campaign, please call Lisa Mangan or Vicky Argles at The Forster Company on 020 7403 2230 or lisa@forster.co.uk / vicky@forster.co.uk