Strawmitments - Marviva | Clapboard Ad Archive

Strawmitments, developed by Marviva in partnership with Orson and launched in Costa Rica’s public service sector during 2019, reframed collective anxiety over government inaction on single-use plastic bans by transforming an everyday object—a plastic straw—into a powerful symbol of accountability and civic will. As Costa Rica’s image as a global sustainability leader wavered amid legislative inertia over Bill 20.985, Strawmitments sidestepped the litany of familiar environmental visuals, instead rallying citizens around the tactile act of converting their last straw into a commitment ring to be worn and shared as proof of their readiness for change. Rather than staging explicit scenes of environmental degradation, the campaign channeled citizen frustration and national pride into a movement that fused symbolic gesture with structured advocacy, combining the grassroots craft of ring-making with a coordinated digital petition to pressure lawmakers. This creative strategy sits squarely in Clapboard’s FORMAT#3—Symbolize the Problem: using an object as both a literal exhibit of the issue (the plastic straw) and a metaphor for personal and societal responsibility. Orson’s integrated approach leveraged Costa Rica’s self-image and harnessed latent environmental activism, converting passive sentiment into visible, shareable declarations at scale. The Strawmitments campaign was more than a visual metaphor; it was a demand for overdue legislative evolution, a participatory pledge that directly contributed to heavier public scrutiny and ultimately the unanimous approval of Bill 20.985, marking Costa Rica as the first nation in Latin America to ban plastic straws. By emphasizing the gap between governmental rhetoric and communal action, Marviva’s movement reinvigorated environmental discourse with a bottom-up demonstration of resolve, and in doing so repositioned the NGO as a catalyst for real-world policy change through creative communications. The campaign earns 74/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. Strawmitments matters because it demonstrates how deftly orchestrated symbolism can rally civic engagement, shift public narratives, and convert abstract environmental promises into irreversible legislative milestones.