Fridays for Future / Greta Thunberg unveils “1%” a satirical tourism ad for Mars created by FRED & FARID Los Angeles

Let's face it, living on Earth isn't so cool right now. We’re breathing under masks; locked down with no real human interaction; and all the things that give taste to life (like traveling, partying with friends, seeing live music, hugging) seem to be postponed forever. This “new normal” makes us all wonder what kind of future we will offer to the new generation, trapped in the midst of war, violence, pandemics, and pollution, on a planet that’s being ravaged by climate change. 

The desire to escape to a kind of Eden – to discover unexplored lands and rebuild a better world – is so strong right now. “What if we run away from Earth and head to Mars?” seems to be the fantasy, as people’s mission to colonize the Red Planet is gaining momentum, and billions upon billions of dollars are being spent. On February 18th, NASA’s Perseverance rover is touching down on Mars, joining the U.A.E.’s Hope orbiter and China’s Tianwen-1 orbiter and rover duo, which also just arrived. Rovers for now, but humans are next… Elon Musk is “highly confident” that SpaceX will land humans on Mars by 2026.  

This sounds like good news. But it’s only good news for those who are billionaires, or world leaders. Everybody else is simply out of luck. 

A film created by FRED & FARID Los Angeles for Fridays For Future, Greta Thunberg’s global climate change movement, illuminates the irony of the fact that government-funded space programs and the world’s ultra-wealthy 1% are laser-focused on Mars… and yet, 99% of humans will never get to Mars. 99% of humans will have to stay on Earth. 

Aptly named “1%,” the film is a satirical tourism ad for Mars. It excites viewers about the prospect of escaping to the Red Planet where there is “no war, no criminality, no pandemics, and no pollution” – only later to reveal the startling aforementioned truth, and a call-to-action, with the line: “And for the 99% of humans who will stay on Earth, we’d better fix climate change.” Fridays for Future reminds us: no one is swooping in to save us… we must save ourselves. We’d better fix climate change, we’d better take action, now. We simply have no choice. 

This is the third collaboration between FRED & FARID Los Angeles and Fridays For Future. After raising awareness about the effects of climate change via their first two initiatives (“House on Fire” and “If You Don’t Believe In Global Warming, How About Local Warming?”), this time, the two organizations sought to create a film that would truly motivate people to action, with a message they would not be able to ignore. 

The film launches on February 18, 2021, the same day that NASA’s highly-anticipated Perseverance rover is touching down on Mars. 

FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE comments: “We wanted to highlight pure nonsense. Government-funded space programs and the world’s ultra-wealthy 1% are laser focused on Mars (NASA’s Perseverance Rover alone cost $2.7 billion for development, launch, operations and analysis)  – and yet, most humans will never get a chance to visit or live on Mars. This is not due to a lack of resources - but the fact that our global systems don’t care about us - and refuse to take equitable action. With 99% of the world’s population remaining on Earth, it’s imperative that we fix the climate change that’s destroying our home planet. We’d better fix climate change now. We simply have no choice.”

FRED & FARID Los Angeles comments: “We aimed to create a film in a retro-futuristic and propaganda genre that would be both provocative and impactful to highlight shocking data.” 

Agency : FRED & FARID Los Angeles

Client: Fridays For Future 

Title of ad: 1%

Chief Creative Officers: Fred & Farid

Brand Supervisor: Joe Hobbs & Katharina Maier

Agency Supervisor: Jules Chaffiotte 

Creative Director: Nicolas Bethier

Copywriter: Hilary Smith 

Agency Producers: Amanda Van Caneghem, Andy Caramanzana

PR: Jalila Levesque 

Colorist: Axel Delwarte, Paul Murgier

Music + Audio Post Production: Squeak E Clean Studios

Composer: Justin Hori

Sound Design: Kennon Ward + Stuart St. Vincent Welch

Senior Mix Engineer: Drew Fischer

Senior Producer: Danielle Toporoff