The Death of the Warsaw Palm
A beloved public art piece and one of Warsaw’s symbols was transformed into a haunting environmental message: on World Environment Day, the city’s iconic artificial palm was replaced with real, but withered leaves. The quiet act stirred the nation — covered by every major Polish outlet and hundreds more globally, all through earned media.
Out of the 50 most polluted cities in the EU, 36 are in Poland. Diesel cars, coal heating, and a lack of education fuel the crisis — while the coal-friendly government avoids the conversation. Our goal was to provoke it.
We hacked Warsaw’s most iconic artwork — The Palm Tree by Joanna Rajkowska, standing in the city center since 2002. On June 5, its plastic leaves were swapped with real, dead ones. Poland was left to wonder: how could even the Palm wither?
The gesture reached 35.1 million people in Poland alone. It generated 12,000 eco declarations on day one and gave UNEP GRID Warsaw the visibility it needed to secure a meeting with the Environment Minister. A national environmental debate was sparked.
Client:
UNEP/GRID-Warsaw
Disciplines:
Experiential
Year:
2019
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Brand Name: UN World Environment Day
Client: UNEP GRID-Warsaw Centre
Product/Service: UN World Environment Day
Campaign Name: The Death of the Warsaw Palm
Agency Network: INDEPENDENT AGENCY
Agency: Syrena Communications Warsaw
Additional Company: One House
Executive Creative Director: Jarek Wiewiórski
Creative Director: Levan Muskhelishvili
Art Director: Tengiz Begoidze
Copywriter: Jarek Wiewiórski
Designer: Barbara Borkała
Client Account Director: Kasia Lewandowska
Media Director: Bartosz Pajak
Managing Director: Marek Szynal
Pr Director: Anna Kiedrzyńska-Tui
Additional Company: Marcin Piecewicz (ONE House), Edyta Kotowicz (Creative Shop Facebook), Mateusz Wyszyński (Facebook)
"The Death of the Warsaw Palm" campaign by UNEP/GRID-Warsaw, in collaboration with Syrena Communications (2019), received multiple accolades, including a EUROBEST shortlist for Use of Ambient Media, a SAR Silver award for Design, Best of Contest at KIAF, a CRESTA Bronze for Ambient & Experiential, and a Red Apple Silver for Use of Ambient Media.