Samsung x BTS: Galaxy for the Planet

Problem

Every year, up to a million tons of ‘ghost’ fishing nets enter the ocean, making up 46% of the South-Africa-sized Great Pacific Garbage Patch and killing over 650,000 marine animals for centuries to come. As the biggest mobile manufacturer in the world, Samsung had the responsibility to act – becoming the first-ever mobile producer to incorporate ocean-bound plastics like abandoned fishing nets in its newest flagship S22 phones – transforming deadly waste into our most personal devices. This action was the start of Samsung’s wider ‘Galaxy for the Planet’ brand mission, which aims to reduce environmental impact by 2025 by rethinking the lifecycle of a phone: from the oceans and lands (sourcing and manufacturing) to our hands (packaging and usage) to others’ hands (recycling and upcycling). Now the question was how did we get even more people to care and join in this mission?

Solution

Believing that saving the oceans can’t and shouldn’t be done alone, Samsung reached out to the ultimate icons of hope and change, a global pop-cultural phenomenon with over 40M-Twitter fans: the 7-member Korean boyband BTS. BTS has championed sustainability at the United Nations and Global Citizen stages. As the preeminent voices of the next generation, they were our perfect strategic and creative partners. Together, we co-created a film that merged their U.N. speeches (e.g. “With the power of ‘we’, ‘us’, together”) with the actions of other champions of change (Bob Dylan) – inspiring planet and music-lovers young and old. The hopeful soundtrack? A Samsung Galaxy brand sound remixed by BTS member, SUGA. The visuals? Powerful images displaying the severity ocean plastics have on marine life. As the film pulls out on a beautifully-regenerated world, it ends with the new initiative and brand promise: “Galaxy for the Planet”.

Result

BTS’ fandom loved and shared it everywhere – earning over 4 billion impressions with zero paid-media: (Real tweets: “This ad legit made me tear up. We need to be the change we want to see.”). We restored hope to Gen Z: (“I’m zero waste and sometimes want to give up. This has just given me so much hope.”).  From Teen Vogue to El Heraldo, influencers and media around the world covered it.