Expanded Hong Kong SAR Shark Campaign Adds Leading Broadcaster TVB

While the Hong Kong SAR public increasingly rejects shark fin soup, it is still offered on some restaurant menus and served at many weddings and other celebrations. Over the past 15 years, the city has accounted for a significant portion of the global shark fin trade and despite a 50% decline in recent years, its traders still import almost 5,000 tonnes of fins each year.

As part of WildAid’s ongoing effort, entertainment legend Bowie Wu stars in a new PSA and billboard campaign calling on citizens to stop eating shark fin soup. Campaign billboards were placed throughout Hong Kong SAR on buses, the metro system and prominent public spaces in collaboration with our advertising partner, JCDecaux.

Through a new partnership with Hong Kong SAR’s leading broadcast network Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), the video PSA will be shown on their broadcast and digital platforms.

“TVB is pleased to partner with WildAid to support the promotion of wildlife conservation. TVB’s distribution capability can improve the presence of wildlife conservation awareness content in local markets. This new partnership will bring Hong Kong SAR people new access to the global message of wildlife conservation via TVB, a trusted source of entertaining and educational content for more than 50 years,” Cheong Shin Keong, the Executive Director and General Manager of TVB said.

At the press event, Bowie Wu explained that shark fin, which can often contain mercury, arsenic, lead or the neurotoxin BMAA, can harm one’s health. Recent studies by the University of Miami have linked BMAA to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Several other popular TVB celebrities also joined the effort to help raise awareness about the illegal wildlife trade while persuading the public not to buy, consume or serve shark fin soup.

The partnership with TVB has a special advantage thanks to the network’s many popular artists and promotional platforms that will help spread our wildlife conservation messages far and wide. Through this collaboration, the Hong Kong SAR public will see more of WildAid’s high-impact media campaigns featuring some of the most influential voices in the world for wildlife conservation, aiming to reduce global consumption of wildlife products and to increase local support for conservation efforts.