The Facts

BACKGROUND

According to the World Wildlife Foundation, in the 1990's and 2000's, Rhino horn poaching had plateaued to a rate of about 20 per year.  In 2012 that number skyrocketed to 668 and as of September 13th, 2013, that number has hit 635. http://bit.ly/1avUIQl 

The Rhino poachers in Africa are working for dealers based in Asia, with most of them supplying the growing affluent Vietnamese population.  Rhino poachers often use helicopters to tranquilize the Rhino, hack the horn off with a chainsaw, leaving the brains and sinus cavities exposed and assuring certain death for the Rhino.

The war on poaching is not working

The current solution being tested is to legalize the trade and sever the horns of the Rhino by surgically removing them, effectively saving the Rhino's life.  

WTF?!
 

THE CONSUMER

The number one consumer of Rhino Horn as a panacea are wealthy, upwardly mobile Vietnamese and Vietnamese women over 50 who purchase it for status to give to family members and friends.  It is used more now as status symbol than a "cure-all" for both the Vietnamese and Chinese and both used it to impress peers, colleagues and family members. http://bit.ly/1avUIQl

In December 2012, the WWF in conjunction with TRAFFIC, produced a series of ad campaigns to try and re-educate the Vietnamese and break the myth that Rhino Horn, or simply keratin, will cure a hang over, detoxify the body or cure cancer, the list is ad infinitum.  Here's Ogilvy & Mather's best attempt: http://bit.ly/1dFy90T

I believe all of us can do much, much better.  We are creating a series of short videos that will act as "infomercials" on YouTube and across the Internet to educate everyone, not just the Vietnamese or Chinese, on how dated the belief system surrounding the 2,000+ year old myth is in today's modern society.  There is a huge disconnect between the users of Rhino Horn and the catastrophic consequences their recreational hobby is having on the Rhino population.  They don't get it.  Choose not to look. Or simply don't care.  I aim to find out which one it is and bridge that gap accordingly.