Here is a very simple idea, that could use humor to help spread awareness about a very serious issue: Shark Finning.

Now there are two possibilities.. or you know exactly what am I talking about, or you have no idea.

Until few months ago I fell into the second category, so here a brief overview about the problem. (If you do not care/are already aware/have to catch a bus, jump directly to the line marked by * )

Shark finning refers to the removal and retention of shark fins and the discard at sea of the carcass. Shark finning takes place at sea so the fishers only have to transport the fins. Shark meat is considered low value and therefore not worth the cost of transporting the bulky shark bodies to market.

..says Wikipedia.

However, this is not always true, because the Sharks finned are not always discarded as “carcasses” after the catch, often left to die a slow and agonizing death, privated of their fins to swim

Every year tens of millions of sharks die a slow death because of finning. Finning is the inhumane practice of hacking off the shark’s fins and throwing its still living body back into the sea. The sharks either starve to death, are eaten alive by other fish, or drown (if they are not in constant movement their gills cannot extract oxygen from the water). Shark fins are being “harvested” in ever greater numbers to feed the growing demand for shark fin soup, an Asian “delicacy”..

..and this SUCKS. I’m new to this issues and problems, but the idea of imposing such a suffering to an animal just to make a tasteless soup out of an incredibly small part of it just makes me sick.

And here is the problem. In my opinion there are different categories of people out there. Those aware of the situation, unwilling to rise up and stop this fucking barbarism, and those unaware of this problem.

*

A simple game, developed in the right manner, could help spread awareness over Shark Finning, potentially pushing people towards having to choose whether to keep ignoring the problem, or fight it.

An other advergame, in other words..

This game idea is simply playing over the concept of the Hangman. Instead of (time after time) having a stickman loosing it’s arms, this game could present the shape of a shark, gradually being deprived of its fins.

At the end of the game, information would be presented, backed up with links to external sites such as http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/ .

This is an easy concept, do you think it could help making a difference?

Wanna read more about Shark Finning?

• http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/
• http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1326737641000&ref=mf (viewer discretion advised)

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