And since GE saw fit last night to run, along with this cool new spot, the ad that it earned an Emmy nomination all the way back in 2007, it may seem a little obvious at this point, but still worth stating:
It is the only way GE is describing and differentiating itself. And that makes for a whole lot of examples for other companies, large or small, with any eco-forward initiative of any scale. Think about it.
As a newly minted father-of-a-girl (I have three boys, too), this caught my attention.
Spend some time talking about "green" marketing or sustainability, and pretty soon you get into the LOHAS (lifestyles of sustainability and health) market and eventually social justice and, by extension, cause marketing. They definitely overlap.
As with my previous post, the Girl Effect campaign suggests the connection is both real and urgent: economic opportunity means social justice and thus, at least in theory, a healthier planet.
Although I love this site, by Grow Interactive of Norfolk, Virginia, the argument in the video seems glib: hey guess what, girls will save the world.
On the one hand, advertisers need to piece the force field we wrap around our brains, and this piece does it. On the other hand, there's something a little trite about the connect-the-dots solution it argues. But spend some time with the "fact book" on girls in developing countries, and you may find, as I have, a deeper appreciation of the place girls can and should have in parts of the world where they have the least opportunity.
Footnote: I find it interesting that the Nike Foundation is one of the program's sponsors — Nike has taken heat for many, many years over its labor practices in Third World countries. I'll let you decide whether this is window dressing for the company or if its help is meaningful. This much I'll say: the work is great and I thank God my daughter will have the opportunities awaiting her here in the states.
Off-topic for this blog, and yet somehow feels relevant: the gross domestic products of 50 countries depicted in terms of the gdp of the American states to which the most closely compare. Developed by University of Chicago professor Christian Broda. (click to enlarge the image).
At the very least, this demonstrates the U.S.'s extraordinary place in the global economy, and, by extension, its role in the development of clean tech/ renewable energy and the fight against global warming.
It's sexy. It's organic. It's even kosher. And even though 900 Minnesotan farmers make it in a cooperative effort, this is one yuppie libation. Okay maybe not yuppie — but the brand certainly targets an up-market demo.
(Note to ethanol critics: see, corn spirits really are good for the planet!)
We have a special love for Prairie, not only because it is made with organic corn grown and distilled in our backyard, but because it is far and away the coolest brand of the bunch. Props to Minneapolis's Olson for its deliciously refreshing work, with a slightly pear nose and pop-rock finish.
But at $25 retail and $68 delivered, could this be another brand that reinforces some of the problems with green marketing — too expensive, too out of reach for ordinary consumers, a great idea but not practical for the average lush?
So the car's fuel economy is surreal but not quite Dada? Do you need to know art history to get this? What would T. Boone think? A great message — hijacking a great movement in art. Alas, further proof of the hegemony of capitalism.
Read about the crazy performance of the little Polo here. Sorry kids, you won't find Volkswagen's diesel-sipping compact for sale in the States. But you may find plenty of jealous drivers dreaming of their own 50 mpg + ride. So it goes with the treachery of images.
Look, at this point, invoking the Apollo project and the civil rights movement of the 1960's to stir support for a green economic makeover has been thoroughly done.
We did it two years ago (pre-Astronaut*) when we rebranded the world's largest biofuel producer, Poet. The "We" campaign did it earlier this year. Thomas Friedman (2004) and Al Gore (2007) have each called for a new "Apollo program" to reverse global warming. And before any of us, the Apollo Alliance started it in 2004.
I like what Greenpeace has done in the past. And I'm a fan of AKQA, which produced this. But the CG repurposing of JFK's speech completely upstages the message. I wonder if by reanimating the departed hero, Greenpeace has really put a nail in the coffin of his inspiration.
Hat tip to adrants, which has apparently delighted in covering Greenpeace's advertising over the years.
* When we named our shop "Astronaut" in early 2007, it was to invoke the mojo of those "star travellers," not to link the green movement to the moonshot of '69. If that means anything.
Few can throw a punch like this like Al Gore, who has teamed with a posse of eco-heavyweights to call out the clean coal whitewash with a new site/organization called "Reality," with a killer URL: action.reality.org
I thought the "we" campaign was refreshingly in-your-face. But this one made me giggle with delight.
It Grows on Trees is about advertising and marketing green. Find policy and activist chat somewhere else. This is where we get down and dirty on brand maneuvers to communicate green in a noisy marketplace. The object is simple: make sustainability mainstream and grow business.
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