Green With Responsibility

It's often said these days that green is the new black. Whether it is human action or not that is to blame for global warming, we're seeing evidence that the ways in which we produce and consume have an impact on the environment. So what is the role of the creative industry in shaping the emerging consensus on our responsibility for the Earth? What happens when creatives, activists, businesses, the press and governments work together?

Earth Hour

Earth Hour, a movement that is going global this month, began in Sydney when WWF head of communications Andy Ridley had breakfast with Leo Burnett chairman Nigel Marsh and strategic planning director Todd Sampson. Together they explored the possibility of an event that could be built into a global phenomenon, with the help of Leo Burnett offices around the world. Fairfax media took the event to the next level with newspaper and online promotion. Major companies, including Qantas, Yahoo!7 and Coca Cola, joined with over 2000 other businesses to take part in the campaign.

Nigel Marsh called on his colleagues in the advertising industry to get onboard, saying, “I want to go to my grave thinking, can you create a legacy that, in some way, is part of the solution? I think the advertising industry has been part of the problem [by] promoting rampant consumerism and we need to be part of the solution.”

This year the campaign is being re-enacted in hundreds of cities around the world. For an hour on March 29, thousands of businesses and homes will turn out or dim their lights, a symbol of a willingness to reconsider the sustainability of their consumption, and a reminder of a community’s capacity for earth-changing action.

See the campaign online at www.earthhour.org, and the latest Australian advertising campaign featuring Olympics gold medalist Cathy Freeman.

What Is Really Happening?

Al Gore’s movie/documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth”, revealed the need for a platform for informed conversation on climate change. My hairdresser confided in me that after seeing the movie she felt a combination of shock and numbness. She wasn't sure where to go to check out the facts or where to start in terms of action.

Chevron came out with a campaign attempting to engage the public in today’s energy issue. The advertisements in the “Power of Human Energy” campaign appear to calm fears that energy sources will run out. Chevron reassures us that the company is working hard to bring more sustainable energy supplies to the global marketplace. The online campaign, at www.willyoujoinus.com, invites viewers to become participants in forums on topics such as powering a city economically and safely while safeguarding the environment

What Are We Doing?

The mood is swinging. Consumers are starting to make critical choices based on their perception of corporate responsibility.

Sky in the UK enlisted Cool Cat, an animated character, to show that Sky had become the world’s first CarbonNeutral® media company in 2006, was working hard to make operations as environmentally friendly as possible, was inspiring customers to live more sustainably, and was enabling employees to take part in environmental initiatives. V8 Supercars in Australia worked with Telstra BigPond, and Future Climate Australia, to promote their V8 Racing Green programs, planting over 15,000 native trees to offset the carbon emissions from the V8 Supercar Championships in 2007.

GE’s Ecomagination campaign reminds us regularly of the technology being developed to reduce energy consumption and waste. See for example their recent focus on the house building industry.

What Will We Drive?

The company I work with has recently moved away from leasing six cylinder vehicles and committed to using renewable fuels such as ethanol. That wouldn’t have happened without awareness that companies such as Toyota were working on making petrol/electric hybrids such as the Prius economically accessible. Their award-winning 2005 spot, Donkey, has us thinking that we need to keep progressing towards the future of sustainable energy sources and that Toyota will lead the way.

Saab in Sweden is focusing on the renewable nature of Saab BioPower, after being critiqued for claims that the fuel would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 70 percent. Using Laura’s track, Release Me, the television commercial features elements of nature longing for release.

Not to be outdone, BMW has released its work on the Hydrogen Car. The visual effects developed at Fuel VFX in Sydney demonstrate the concept of a car that emits water rather than carbon dioxide. We’re assured that BMW is ready for when the world is ready.

What To Do

For most people it's not enough to assume that governments and large corporations will solve the world's problems. They're cynical about their capacity to change their structure in a timely manner. But what can one person do? Power company PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electricity) is engaging its San Francisco customers in an online educational interactive campaign designed to grow the city’s capacity for environmental stewardship, helping it become the greenest city in the USA. The central focus of the campaign, letsgreenthiscity.com, is an online guide to help individuals identify ways to support the environment.

Lighten Up

Despite the earnest fervor being shown by environmental activists, most people can only take so much intensity, shame and fear.

Edenor Electricity in Argentina enlisted Catholic journalist Victor Suero for a humorous advertisement which encouraged customers to turn off unnecessary lights. Suero has written on his after-death experiences and was challenged in the ad to go back and turn off the light that he saw before returning to this world.

Environmental activists in the UK, Do The Green Thing, have started a monthly series of viral ads with a light hearted approach to environmental action. The February spot showed nude women and men braving the cold of the Antarctic to act out the life of the Emperor Penguins. Use body warmth! Their March spot features animated meatballs and broccoli rapping about using less meat.

Diesel, the Italian clothing manufacturer, raised the heat last year with a provocative advertising campaign, “Global Warming Ready”. A series of newspaper, magazine and billboard advertisements shows glamorous models posing in Diesel clothing in a world affected by raised water levels and temperatures.

Ongoing Questions for the Future

Where do we draw the line between manipulative propaganda and responsible collaboration? How much shame and fear can be used before members of the public respond with resentment? What role does the advertising industry have in connecting the public with informed discussion as well as public relations for companies doing the green thing?