“We are born in a bed that someone already uses, in a room where more people are born. We were given a name and two surnames that many people already have, and that is…” This is how Wallapop announced a campaign on May 19, 1985, pairing visuals of an old hospital with imagery of a newborn. A woman’s hands embroider a school dress bearing the name of Bilbao’s famed supermodel and actor Jon Kortajarena. He is given voice and face from his childhood, with many unpublished images fueling a campaign that invites people to consider the absurdity of always chasing something “new” and to question social conventions.
Regularly associated with designer Tom Ford and a figure who has become a global fashion icon through roles with Versace, Calvin Klein, and other major brands, Kortajarena has also stepped into acting. He appeared in One Man in 2009 and later joined the Netflix series High Seas from 2019 to 2020. Since 2017 he has served as a Greenpeace climate ambassador, and in 2019 he received the Climate Leaders Award from the Nobel Foundation for his environmental advocacy.
“A positive change”
This environmental involvement sparked a new direction for Kortajarena, leading to a second-hand platform’s selection for a fresh commercial. He highlighted that this is the first campaign he has promoted that he genuinely believes people need. Working with Wallapop, he expressed a desire to inspire positive societal change and to offer a new perspective on objects and consumption.
The campaign is titled “We need innovation,” marking the third collaboration between Mono Madrid and Jesús Revuelta for Wallapop. The message calls for giving a second life to products already in use rather than discarding them.
“We go to a school that belongs to others, we go where others have gone before, and we live in rented houses…”. The campaign continues with new images featuring the model.
“Passion for the new”
Sharing insights on Instagram, the model asked what makes people think everything must be new. He emphasized environmental issues linked to consumption patterns and the use of material resources. In a world obsessed with novelty, often tied to inherited or manufactured cycles, he asked why people cannot start by changing how they view things.
Some people are already embracing this shift. In Spain, there is a rising trend toward buying used goods, with 43 percent of consumers considering second-hand options when making purchases.
childhood album
The video unfolds as a collage of visuals that review everyday scenarios where items are reused without noticing it, such as the brushes used at hairdressers or hotel towels. It traces the life path of the new brand ambassador, concluding with the idea that real innovation lies in how people perceive things. Kortajarena closes with that thought.
The narrative then dives into unpublished audiovisuals from the model’s life across different periods, offering glimpses of moments from his real life, including a school scene at Arenas Internacional School in Lanzarote, his Paris catwalk journeys, and his housing search in Lisbon.
This campaign marks Wallapop’s fourth year of encouraging a more conscious and humane approach to consumption, following Cambios in 2021, What’s done is done in 2022, and Thank you, brands in 2023, each earning notable recognition for the brand’s evolving messaging.