Cape Town - Businessmen are pictured in darkly lit conference rooms, at their desks or at prayer… A new Vietnamese advertising campaign, launched, might seem like the usual corporate stock, but it is the unlikely face of a new anti-rhino poaching initiative spearheaded by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) in South Africa.
Last year, the organisation revealed research that showed the Asian country was the biggest market for the illegal trade of rhino horn.
It was the demand of a largely upper-middle class population that was behind the sudden spike in rhino deaths post-2007. On Sunday, SANParks and the police arrested three employees of the parks’ organisation in connection with rhino poaching inside the Kruger National Park.
The arrest swiftly followed the discovery of a freshly killed rhino in the Lower Sabie section of the reserve.
The Department of Environmental Affairs said 769 rhinos had already been poached in South Africa this year. Conservative estimates predict there will be more than 1 200 dead by the end of the year.
It is an alarming figure when the remaining rhino population is sitting at only 5 000.
Set up to coincide with World Rhino Day at the fund’s Newlands offices, Dr Jo Shaw, the organisation’s rhino programme manager, took visitors through the reasoning behind the new campaign, which she said would hopefully “win the war against rhino poaching”.
She described the rhino horn market as being made up of affluent, middle-aged males almost always working in a corporate environment in Vietnam.
While the perception is that Asian markets value rhino horn because of its supposed medicinal qualities, Shaw said it was steadily becoming a symbol of “power and wealth”.
“It has become a very, very valuable gift.”
The research from last year gave the organisation a unique insight into the buyers turning the rhino horn trade into a lucrative market. But Greater Mekong Programme manager Dr Naomi Doak said the challenge was how to change this social norm. “When shown images of poaching or the arguments against it, they just tune it out,” she said.
What emerged from their research was that the popularity of rhino horn had spread by word of mouth. Logically, the best way to reverse this was to tap into the same channels.
“The people looking for rhino horn are most likely influenced by people they look up to and these would be their bosses.”
It’s how the “Chi: the Power Comes From Our Will” campaign was born. While the advert will be spread across different mediums, the heart of the message is captured in the print advertisements.
In the first, a businessman whispers in his colleague’s ear. The tag line reads: “Be Aware… Wise men know the truth. They use natural means to keep their body free of toxins. Vitality comes from lifestyle, not from a piece of horn.”
It’s asking for a big turnaround from a market that the fund’s own research has shown to have made the horn part of everyday life – from mixing it with drinks to stave off hangovers or keeping it in the house in case a relative falls ill.
The ads will hit business-focused magazines and similar radio ads will be aired on the country’s morning-radio shows.
Shaw said once the campaign had been completed, another round of research would conducted in the country to see if local perceptions on rhino poaching had been swayed at all.
But she was confident it would have a positive impact.
Cape Argus