A Match Made in Creative Stormwater Strategy
When civil engineering firm McAdams approached us to co-bid on a creative PSA campaign for the City of Durham’s Stormwater Division, we jumped at the opportunity. This collaboration merged our love for playful, out-of-the-box storytelling with McAdams’ deep environmental expertise.
Together, we set out to create a PSA campaign that would make residents stop, smile—and most importantly—remember to take action.
The Creative Challenge: Make Stormwater Memorable
Durham needed to address three specific environmental issues affecting local waterways:
- Loose sediment and erosion
- Improper disposal of oil and grease
- Yard waste management
We didn’t want to list out facts. We wanted to bring them to life. Our team pitched the idea of personifying each issue through a memorable character—and quickly landed on a playful, nostalgic approach: puppets.
Yes, puppets. If they worked for Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers, why not for stormwater education? This Durham stormwater PSA video series brings pollution prevention topics to life using humor and handcrafted characters.
Meet the Characters
We enlisted our in-house puppeteer (how many studios can say that?) to design and perform three original characters:
- Russel the Leaf Pile – reminding residents to bag yard waste
- Carl the Oil Blob – urging proper disposal of cooking oil and grease
- Rosie the Fence – representing sediment control and erosion awareness
By giving each issue a voice—and a quirky face—we made these environmental pain points feel personal and shareable. The end result: a main video featuring all three, as well as individual cutdowns starring each character.
The Power of a Creative Durham Stormwater PSA Video
Government PSAs often risk falling flat. But when they’re infused with creativity, they stick. Just think of Smokey Bear or This Is Your Brain on Drugs.
We took that same approach here. And we’ve seen it work before—like in our Winter Weather Animation for the Town of Hillsborough, which dramatically reduced call volume by answering FAQs in an engaging way.
For Durham, this campaign combines humor, heart, and high production value—showing residents that protecting the environment doesn’t have to be boring.
Community Engagement in Action
Durham’s Stormwater Division already does incredible work maintaining clean waterways and managing environmental risk. But success requires citizens to play their part.
This video series encourages residents to stay alert, make smart choices, and—when needed—call the Pollution Hotline. A clean watershed is a shared responsibility, and these characters make that message stick. The Durham stormwater PSA video project sets a new bar for creative government communication and public engagement.
In addition to the puppet series, we created two additional videos: one covering the Eno River Watershed, and another outlining the State of Durham’s Streams. Both were produced in full-length and :45-second cutdowns.
Watch the Series
Final Thoughts
This campaign proves that even serious messages can be told in fun, human ways. By using puppetry, personality, and collaboration, we helped Durham deliver environmental education that actually gets remembered—and acted on.
Want to connect people to your mission through powerful storytelling? Let’s make it amazing.
