by Colwyn Elder (@colwynelder) Three campaigns did a standout job for sustainability in 2014, and a prevalent theme across all three is the shifting role of the consumer. While there’s always been a role for more conscious consumption, shoppers are now finding their collective voice.
These three campaigns are noteworthy, not least of all owing to the successful accomplishment of their objectives, but also due to the broad cross-section of issues addressed and the manner in which these were tackled.
- Everything is NOT awesome — Greenpeace
Greenpeace’s Everything is NOT Awesome campaign shows a pristine arctic landscape built from over 120kg of LEGO bricks, slowly covered in oil. With over 6m YouTube views, the film is the most-viewed in Greenpeace’s history, and culminated in the announcement that LEGO will not be renewing its 50-year partnership with Shell.
The toy giant initially resisted the campaign, saying that Greenpeace was using the LEGO brand to target Shell when the right thing to do would be to take it up with Shell directly. However, overwhelming public support soon gave cause to relent, and offline campaign support in the form of a child-led protest outside Shell’s HQ highlighted the emotional link between climate change and future generations.
“It did touch a bit of a raw nerve about the partnership between the two companies that people thought was completely inappropriate — for a toy company like Lego to partner with an oil corporation — which is a sign of changes that are happening [in public attitudes towards fossil fuel companies],” said John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, according to The Guardian.
- Behind the Brands — Oxfam
Oxfam’s Behind the Brands campaign has also used consumer pressure to bring about change. The Behind the Brands Scorecard assesses the agricultural sourcing policies of the world’s 10 biggest food and drinks companies across seven themes, including climate, water, land, farmers, workers, women and corporate transparency.
The campaign objective is to provide people with the information they need to hold the Big 10 accountable, and it’s working. Nearly 650 000 people around the world have signed up and many of the brands have taken action, proving that consumer power is a force to be reckoned with.
In May 2014, Oxfam highlighted harmful food production practices contributing to climate change, identifying Kellogg and General Mills as the worst offenders. By summer 2014 (northern hemisphere), both companies committed to measure, publish and reduce emissions across their entire supply chains.
The campaign’s real success is that it tackles issues that are complex, difficult to communicate and that don’t tug at the heartstrings, yet it still manages to engage with people.
By simplifying these issues into a user-friendly scoresheet that is both easy to understand and comparable with other brands, Oxfam uses consumer power to bring positive influence deep inside company supply chains.
People are increasingly looking to understand more about the brands they buy and are actively seeking out such information so that they can make informed choices in line with their values. Behind the Brand’s enables them to do just that.
- Let Toys be Toys
Let Toys be Toys is a parent-led campaign that began life as a discussion thread on Mumsnet. Born of parents frustrated by the ongoing (and seemingly increasing) gender stereotyping prevalent in toy promotions and marketing to children, the campaign simply asks that the toy (and more recently the publishing) industries stop limiting children’s interests and imagination by promoting some toys and books as only suitable for girls, and others only for boys.
By sorting and labelling toys by theme or function, rather than by gender, children can decide which toys they enjoy best.
“Toys are for fun, for learning, for stoking imagination and encouraging creativity. Children should feel free to play with the toys that most interest them,” it says on lettoysbetoys.org.uk.
After 14 retailers in the UK agreed to stop gender-based marketing, the campaign was extended to books. Respected educational Usborne Publishing was the first to announce that it would not be commissioning any new titles labelled for boys and girls. Since then, Dorling Kindersley, Ladybird Books, Parragon, Chad Valley and Miles Kelly Books have all followed suit.
Responsibility rests not upon the shoulders of individuals but upon manufacturers, producers and governments, and at the heart of all these campaigns is the desire to see major corporations using their power to tackle global sustainability issues.
Flexing our citizen muscles as a consumer group can nudge them to do so effectively.
Strategic consultant Colwyn Elder (@colwynelder) brings a global perspective to the issue of sustainability, having lived and worked in London, Tokyo, Amsterdam and Cape Town. She contributes the monthly “Green Sky Thinking” column on sustainability issues to MarkLives.
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