Keep Britain Tidy Cigarette Butts

Cigarette Butts

The brief

We were asked by Keep Britain Tidy to make giant models of cigarette butts to place into a tank at Sea Life Manchester for a photoshoot to launch their latest campaign #BinTheButt to stamp out cigarette litter, which causes significant damage to marine life.

Project Details

Prop process images

  1. Giant cigarette prop sculpted out of clay ready to be sprayed.
  2. Three giant cigarette butt sculptures after being sprayed in spray shop.
  3. Large turtle swimming next to some large cigarette butt props whilst being installed underwayer.
  4. Turtle swimming around three giant cigarette butt props.

The Process

We began by sculpting one cigarette in clay and then made a mould and cast three in fibreglass. The three butts were primed and ready for the printed vinyl. They were then painted and lacquered and filled with aquarium stones. Once on-site, the installation team got the giant cigarette butt props into position.

Project Image

Turtle underwater exploring giant cigarette butt props.

The Result

We're really pleased with the result and the impact that was made. There were a few challenges to this project; we had to be sure that what we created didn’t poison the marine life in the tanks and also that the cigarette butts we made were heavy enough to stay at the bottom of the aquarium and not float away, so we weighted them by filling them with stones used to decorate aquariums as this isn’t dangerous to marine life.