Pocoyo Becomes Kids’ Ambassador for World Wildlife Fund Campaign

SINGAPORE: Zinkia Entertainment’s Pocoyo character has been tapped to serve as the first official global kids’ ambassador for World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour "Beyond the Hour" environmental campaign.

Pocoyo’s adventures will be used to raise environmental awareness among children. The character will work to empower kids, their parents and caregivers to "turn off the lights" during Earth Hour and to incorporate easy, environmentally sustainable actions "beyond the hour." Through animation content and online activities, the Pocoyo brand will work to get children involved in the 2011 Earth Hour on March 26. Kids will be asked to turn off lights in their home for one hour beginning at 8:30 p.m. Organizers are looking to extend Earth Hour "beyond the hour," inspiring kids to make small changes in their daily habits that will collectively benefit the planet in the future.

Andy Ridley, co-founder and executive director of Earth Hour, said, “Earth Hour has grown exponentially year on year since its inception in 2007. We have been overwhelmed by the power of individuals and communities to come together and send a powerful message by switching off the lights. Just imagine what we could achieve if we take this ‘beyond the hour.’ Pocoyo’s massive appeal with children worldwide will be a tremendous asset in growing Earth Hour ‘beyond the hour.’”

“Pocoyo is about a young boy’s discovery of the world around him, which makes it such a perfect fit with the objectives of Earth Hour and the World Wildlife Fund,” explained José María Castillejo, Zinkia Entertainment’s co-founder and chairman. “Two years ago, Pocoyo started partnering with World Wildlife Fund International and the Earth Hour campaign in Spain. Through the development of innovative content delivered on a variety of media platforms–a strategy that has been at the core of Pocoyo’s brand growth—Pocoyo encouraged hundreds of thousands of young children to not only turn out the lights for that one hour in March, but also provided them with easily comprehended tips on how they could continue to incorporate eco-friendly habits into their daily lives.”

“We are tremendously honored to broaden our relationship with Earth Hour Global and the World Wildlife Fund by expanding Pocoyo’s role to that of Global Kids’ Ambassador for Earth Hour and look forward to working together on the creation of programs that deliver fun while creating lifelong habits of eco-friendliness that go ‘beyond the hour’,” continued Castillejo. “Teaching the importance of respecting and preserving our planet; of how simple choices affect people and animals the world over, and perhaps more importantly, teaching young fans how they can share these earth-friendly lifestyle practices with their whole family will be at the core of Pocoyo’s new role for this important worldwide initiative. When children become the teachers, it has an incredible impact on parents.”