Thanks in large part to Al Gore's earth-as-ticking-time bomb documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, the importance of going green is again a pop culture hot topic.

Aiming to reach green-curious consumers, creative studio Mekanism and agency Venables Bell & Partners have created an integrated media campaign to educate fellow San Franciscans on simple and effective ways to support the environment.

"The idea was to create a user manual for greening your life," says Mekanism CD Ian Kovalik about Pacific Gas & Electric's Let's Green This City campaign. "A simple manual to give the average person tips that they can immediately act on."

The online manual consists of 10 live-action and animated short films that touch on green issues. Ranging from a flock of winged CFL bulbs flying through a surreal landscape to a farmer chiding his cow for "selling your shit behind my back for money" to promote biomethane, the campaign mixes entertainment and education - articles and downloadable fact sheets accompany each film.

"We put a lot of emphasis on its entertainment value because we wanted the website to be the body of the octopus and the films through syndication to be the tentacles," says Kovalik, who has seen a number of green-related sites host the films since its April launch. Venables' city-wide print campaign also ushers viewers toward the site.

To create the films, oil paintings and hand-drawn illustrations from local and international artists were digitally animated using Maya and After Effects.

Ultimately, the hope is that the films' light take on a sober topic will encourage its audience.

"The shortest distance between two people is laughter," says Mekanism EP

Jason Harris. "If we can get people laughing and put in a message about doing their part to make the city greener, I think that's a lot easier than scaring people into it."

Let's Green This City http://letsgreenthiscity.com
Mekanism http://www.mekanism.com
Venables Bell & Partners http://www.venablesbell.com