THE LIKES OF ARCHIE ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION

National Geographic’s latest campaign aims to bring awareness to the dwindling big cat population, as big felines are on the brink of extinction. The campaign also draws attention to the channel’s ‘Big Cats Initiative’, which funds scientists and conservationists working to rescue these majestic creatures in the wild. The network has enlisted public relations agency Tin Man Communications and London-based street artist Dean Zeus Colman to create a 250-square-foot poster of ‘Archie’, the “missing” cat, designed to represents the lion population, which has dwindled by 90-percent over the past 75 years. “Have you seen Archie?” the graphic reads. “Last seen basking in the African sunshine. We can’t imagine life without Archie, can you?” The artwork covered the floor of Paternoster Square in London for one day on 29 January. Unwitting passersby wiped off the poster with their shoes; the disappearing illustration signified the role humans have in the declining big cat population. The same “missing” poster of ‘Archie’ will be replicated in other areas throughout London.