Skift Take
You can get a cute kid to say just about anything. We're waiting for a response ad featuring a kid whose father lost his job to a worker at an airport Amsterdam or Dubai. Try using tears -- always works.
Children, pets, grandparents, and animated characters have entered the battle against a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport.
Yesterday the anti-third runway campaigners No If No Buts — which takes its name from a 2009 promise by Prime Minister David Cameron to oppose airport expansion — shared a shortlist of 14 entries and announced the winner of its contest for the best anti-Heathrow video.
The winner was “Heathrow Won’t Listen,” by filmmakers Dan Grant, Andy Chan and Tom Murray.
Heathrow is in a years-long struggle to add a third runway to the airport. Proponents argue that the additional runway will allow it to better compete with airports in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Dubai that have taken a share of international business away from London. Opponents of expansion point to the high density of people living near the airport that will feel the impact of the noise and environmental pollution.
Heathrow was surpassed in May by Dubai International Airport as the world’s busiest international airport, while Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport is the world’s busiest by total volume.
No Ifs No Buts uploaded all 14 videos on the shortlist to YouTube following the announcement of the winner, including this two-minute-plus take of two children arguing against expansion by Darion Leigh.
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Photo credit: From the entry "Kids On Heathrow" by Darion Leigh. YouTube