It Grows On Trees

Greenpeace Finds New Use For Washington Monument: Piercing the Veil

It's tall. It's pointy. And for Greenpeace, it was just the thing to burst Bush's global warming bubble during his State of the Union address last week.

Is it any wonder that some of the best creative comes from those who really believe in what they're doing?

Via adrants.

Are Billboards Air Pollution?

Yes, according to the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Last December, the city of 11 million passed a law banning virtually all forms of outdoor advertising, according to the International Herald Tribune. As of this summer, the removal of the offending media was almost complete (see WorldChanging.com for the update earlier this summer).

According to the IHT, "City planners, architects and environmental advocates have argued enthusiastically that the prohibition, through a new 'clean city' law, brings São Paulo a welcome step closer to an imagined urban ideal."

Everyone knows that advertising — especially the outdoor kind — crams the visual landscapes of our lives with "clutter," "noise" and "junk mail." I find it marvelous that, in a push for a "clean city," city leaders would essentially condemn it as pollution. Makes a sticky wicket for green marketers — on the one hand, you want to promote your green agenda/product/service; on the other hand, you don't want to create visual pollution, do you?

For an eerie look at a metropolis without ad clutter, check out this flickr site featuring shots of a post-billboard Sao Paulo. Totally brilliant.

Via Be A Design Group.

You're Joking, Right?

Talk about the height (or low) of me-tooism.
But then, what do you expect? If you're on the Hummer account, what choice do you have in a market that's making you the whipping boy of climate change? Don't you sort of have to grasp for whatever straw you can — and push 20 mph on the highway as miserly gas consumption? I feel for these guys, I really do: it's like a friend once said of parking meter readers; "Why would you want a job where everyone hates you?"

I suppose if you're in the auto industry, you do the best you can playing catch-up with a world view on energy that's quickly overtaking you . Thus the above shill, along with GM's other worthy effort but dubious play at eco-credibility.

Setting Sun, Rising Water, Raising the Bar

I'm suddenly finding too many cool examples of genius in green communications not to share. Here's my second of the day from American Copywriter (thanks kids). They spotlight it for its brilliance with one of advertising's toughest proving grounds: the billboard. As the sun moves, an awning above the board casts a shadow that creates a wicked illusion.

I'm sharing it for what I hope are obvious reasons: can't your sustainable brand use this kind of thinking?