Greenpeace Asks Australians to 'Flip Off' Woodside Over Scott Reef Drilling

Greenpeace Australia Pacific wants Australians to 'flip off' Woodside — and it has built an entire multi-channel campaign around that single gesture. The activist group has partnered with agency Thinkerbell and actor Michael Caton on a public mobilisation against Woodside's plan to drill for gas at Scott Reef, which Greenpeace calls Australia's largest oceanic reef.

The stakes are concrete. The project, off the coast of Western Australia, would see up to 57 wells drilled around the reef. Greenpeace says the area is home to vulnerable green sea turtles, endangered pygmy blue whales and thousands of marine species. That's the measurable context behind the provocation: a drilling program the size of a small field, next to a reef most Australians will never see.

What does the campaign actually ask people to do?

The film is set in a courtroom, scored to Radiohead, and voiced by Caton as a green sea turtle defending her home from corporate overreach. The turtle flips her flippers at Woodside. Caton, who built a career playing battlers against big interests, calls on everyday Australians to take a stand.

The action is simple and shareable. The campaign asks the public to:

• Share the campaign video
• Tag their MPs
• Tag Environment Minister Murray Watt
• Tag Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

The message to all three: stop Woodside's project.

Caton said: "Just because it's out of sight off the western coast of Australia, it's not out of mind. And Woodside should remember that."

Who is saying what?

Glenn Walker, Head of Nature at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, did not soften the framing. He said: "Woodside's dirty gas project at Scott Reef, Australia's largest oceanic reef, is an environmental disaster waiting to happen, threatening thousands of species, including the extremely vulnerable green sea turtles that nest there."

Walker added that by "literally flipping off Woodside and Big Gas, Aussies are cutting through corporate spin and sending an unignorable message to Environment Minister Murray Watt and the Albanese government: save Scott Reef."

Thinkerbell Co-Founder Adam Ferrier took a more diplomatic line — notably one aimed at his home state. "You can fight a corporation in the courtroom forever, but the real power to deliver lasting protection rests in parliament," he said. Ferrier said he is "proudly from WA" and knows how much the natural environment means to Western Australia's people and economy. He also said he is "sure Woodside wants to do the right thing." That claim is doing a lot of work, and Woodside has said nothing in this announcement to confirm it.

Chief Creative Tinker Paul Swann was blunter about the strategy. "When the stakes are this high, polite ads don't work," he said. "You need an unignorable provocation that galvanises people and puts the pressure squarely where it belongs, on our leaders in Canberra. This isn't just about protecting a reef; it's about holding power to account."

Where will it run, and what's the Radiohead angle?

The campaign rolls out across OOH (out-of-home advertising), digital, social, influencer and cinema, supported by an interactive landing page. High-profile figures will amplify it. Thinkerbell planned the campaign through its Alchemy model, combining cinematic storytelling with organic social mobilisation and earned media.

The timing is not accidental. Radiohead's soundtrack licensing coincides with the band's first Australian tour in 15 years — 16 arena shows across Perth, Melbourne and Sydney in May and June 2027. A $2 donation from every ticket goes to Greenpeace Australia Pacific and the Australian Marine Conservation Society, with Radiohead matching the final amount raised.

Production credits: Collider produced the film, Music Mill handled music supervision and licensing, and Sonar Music handled audio.