Rising sea levels don’t just impact natural landscapes and charismatic megafauna. Floridians are the most vulnerable people in the United States to the impacts of climate change, including rising sea levels and an increasing number of severe weather events. That’s why one of Florida’s most famous residents, the legendary Florida Man of viral fame, has posted a comedic video sending an urgent message to online viewers: “Join the global climate strikes on September 20th, and help protect me from extinction.”
The video, part of an initiative called Save Florida Man, went live on September 19, 2019 ahead of the global climate strikes on September 20th. Save Florida Man is launching on social and digital platforms in a series of videos, GIFs and downloadable climate strike posters.
Save Florida Man is an initiative funded by Potential Energy Coalition in partnership with leading creative and innovation agency JOAN and production company m ss ng p eces. Save Florida Man was created as a new way to frame the climate change conversation and inspire people to take immediate action.
To drive the point home, they reached out to a genuine Florida Man, Robby Stratton, to reenact the infamous gator assisted beer run that launched him into the annals of Florida Man fame, minus the real alligator of course. He pleads the case that Florida Man stories like his won’t be around much longer if we don’t start preparing for rising sea levels.
“The classic images of climate change are of icebergs melting and emaciated polar bears. The reality is the problem is hitting way, way closer to home. If you want to save something, save Florida — and its majestic, crazy-ass native species, the Florida Man,” said JOAN co-founder and chief creative officer, Jaime Robinson.
“The Global Climate Strike has real momentum and, as we’ve done in the past, we wanted to contribute our skillset to one of the most pressing issues of our time. Our director Jason Jeffrey jumped on this right away and made something special in a short amount of time–now we strike,” said m ss ng p eces founder and managing partner, Ari Kuschnir.
