Collapsing Nuclear Towers Having Tea: Energy Campaign Goes Viral
Two cooling towers at a nuclear plant have morning tea to the sounds of a libretto, only to be blown to the ground in a viral video that is part of a green energy campaign. YouTube

Two cooling towers at a nuclear plant have morning tea to the sounds of an opera, only to be blown to the ground in a viral video that is part of a green energy campaign.

ecotricity, a British firm that sells green sources of electricity, came up with the video as part of its Dump the Big Six campaign. The Big Six refers to the six major electricity producers in the U.K.

The 75 second video starts with two nuclear cooling towers over which animators have drawn 3D arms and smiley faces. The video is below. One tower rubs its eyes awake, then serves the other tower tea, them serves itself. Explosives blow up both towers, which collapse, while the animated faces express shock and their animated arms rise in horror.

Four smokestacks suffer a similar fate; as they fall in tandem, the others reach out and then two salute after realizing there's no hope.

Two cooling towers are rudely awakened in the night; just as one takes off its eye mask, the two collapse.

It's time to move on... the advertisement concludes Dump the Big Six

From Dale Vince, founder of ecotricity: The campaign's crumbling cooling towers are symbols of a passing era, of an old industrial approach to energy production - through burning fossil fuels. The overwhelming feeling this animation gives me is that it's 'time to move on' - as a country we need to, and as people we need to. We're calling on Britons to 'Dump The Big Six' and the old way of doing things (they're inseparable after all) and to instead be a part of a revolution - one where People Power brings about something so axiomatically right for Britain - (Green) energy independence.

The Big Six include British Gas Business, EDF, E.ON, Npower, Scottish Power Business and Scottish & Southern.