The agency has delivered a swell of national coverage for client Sea Life Manchester and its national terrapin appeal.

The conservation story, Don’t Flush, urged Brits to think twice before buying terrapins as pets, as Sea Life centres are swamped with requests to re-home un-wanted Christmas gifts.  Owners are believed to take shocking and unthinkable measures to dispose of the creatures, with terrapins flushed down toilets.

Adding further weight to the campaign, which saw coverage on the world’s most visited news website the MailOnline, alongside the SunOnline, IndependentOnline, AOL, BTonline and a wealth of regional titles, was news that Sea Life Manchester had renamed one of its terrapins Loo.  Visitors can see Loo at the Manchester attraction located at Barton Square, Trafford Park.

Speaking on the subject, Alan Kwan, Lead Curator at Sea Life Manchester, said: “People wrongly assume that terrapins are going to be easy to care for. What they don’t realise is that they grow from 3cm in length (hand-sized) to 30cm in length (large dinner plate) and live between 30-50 years.

“Global warming and the resulting rise in temperatures across British waterways is leading to abandoned terrapins breeding and growing in population. Native to Florida, this alien predatory reptile is having a damaging effect on British pondlife and waterfowl with fish, frog, frogspawn and ducklings falling prey.”

Rule 5 co-founder Jules Wilson said: “We were confident of our ability to drive strong coverage with this story, combining hard-hitting conservation messages with creative tactics to maximise reach.  The team delivered a brilliant job in what is our first month of work with Sea Life Manchester.”