Save Wild Tigers has unveiled a powerful new campaign featuring Hollywood stalwart Ray Winstone to raise awareness about the global poaching crisis.
The campaign, titled “Ray the Rug” was devised by creative agencies Monster Sauce and Worth Your While, alonsgide VFX agency Smoke & Mirrors Bangkok.
It features a six-minute film following Ray, a tiger skin rug voiced by the British actor, sharing his heart-wrenching story about the effects human activity has on the tiger population.
The film will be screened globally across digital platforms and media channels over the next 24 months.
Save Wild Tigers founder, Simon Clinton said: “This has been an amazing creative collaboration, involving numerous talented individuals and agencies across multiple countries, with over 12 months in the making. The passion and creativity shown by everyone has been truly outstanding.”
According to data from the tiger conservation group, as few as 4,900 tigers are left in the wild worldwide due to losing 96% of their natural habitat.
The animals are also constantly under threat from poaching for their skin, fur, and bones.
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In recent years due to human activity, Save Wild Tigers have said tigers have become extinct in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam and are now dangerously close to extinction in China, Malaysia, and Myanmar. This has been put down to the illegal wildlife trade which is valued at over £15 billion annually.
Winstone commented: “The decline of Wild Tigers is a sad reflection of what is going on in our world today. We are supposed to be the intellectual beasts of this planet, yet we often prove to be the most barbaric species of all”.
In collaboration with NGO charity partner Malaysia RIMUA the film will be distributed alongside educational materials on tigers to schools across Malaysia and Singapore with plans to continue the programme across South East Asia.
Monster Sauce executive creative director, Steve Beck added: “With first-hand experience, he is the perfect spokesman for the ever-dwindling global tiger population. You see, Ray is a tiger skin rug, and more than that he represents the many illegal tiger parts poached from tigers.
“In the film, Ray tells us his life story, a simple delivery to camera that doesn’t let the viewer escape without feeling for Ray.
He continued: “The idea was a truly global collaboration, creatively led by Perth start-up Monster Sauce, working closely with WorthYourWhile Copenhagen and masterfully brought to life by the team at Smoke & Mirrors in Bangkok. Featuring the amazing voice of Ray Winstone as Ray the rug the short film is unforgettable”.
