After almost 60 years of profiting from women’s breasts, Playboy is finally giving them something back… sort of.
It might be one of the most overt cases of pinkwashing you’ll see this October. (Correction: The common definition of pinkwashing implies that the advertiser’s goods are harmful to women’s health. The connection here is up to you.)
For every new Twitter follower he gets @playboy, the Hef is offering to sponsor his own team of Bunnies in LA’s Race for the Cure this March — to the tune of 10¢ per human being. A whole dime! (Up to $10,000.)
To put that in context, the going rate for an un-engaged follower from social media mercenary services is about 1.7¢ per name. Playboy is paying a premium price of $10 per 100 interested opt-in followers. Can you even buy a social media list that good for such a great price? Plus, Playboy gets to wrap itself in woman-friendly corporate social responsibility from now until next spring. Brilliant! But will they get away with it?
Great new campaign launched today in Switzerland from Solidar, the fair trade organization. They want George Clooney to take his role as UN ambassador serious. He is also the face in all recent Nespresso marketing.
With this campaign Solidar ask people the sign the petition asking Nespresso to stop the exploitation of coffee pickers.
The petition text:
Dear George,
... you campaign as a UN ambassador as well as a champion of peace and justice. That is truly fantastic. But promoting a company that does nothing to stop the exploitation of coffee pickers is really not right.
I would therefore like to ask you make Nestlé choose:
either fair trade coffee or no more George Clooney in the Nespresso commercials.
Above two scenes from a technically perfect interactive video. In the video just ordinary scenes from a nice evening in a bar with friends. Until you move your mouse pointer over the video.
The mouseover effect bring scenes with the same people in unlimited drunkenness. In a state of being where it is impossible to behave responsible on the way home.
No it isn’t a campaign about alcohol abuse. It is a promo from Movia, the bus company from Copenhagen in Denmark. At the end in the video Movia asks you: Er det på tide at komme hjem? - Is it time to go home? Take the night bus.
The campaign landing page points visitors also to an iPhone or Android app with a route planner and a Movia timetable.
I love the mouseover effect. It is interactive and nice to play more than once.
But we also know about the problems with drunkenness on public transport. There is no difference with irresponsible behavior in a bus or in a bar.
My second complaint is that public transport is recommended for everyone after a night out, not only for barflies.
Some of the animals most harmed by discarded plastic bags and other refuse that end up in the ocean are several species of sea turtles, which mistake them for jellyfish. So it was interesting to recieve this press release for turtle-saving corporate social responsibility by Little Tykes, a major manufacturer of plastic kids’ toys.
Among many other things (many of which my son has encountered) Little Tykes sells an iconic turtle-shaped plastic sandbox. To celebrate the 33rd anniversary of this product, the company hired a multimedia company to develop educational turtle-themed Facebook games and interactive apps that encourage users to donate to the Sea Turtle Conservancy
Although I don’t have any economic skills, this is on my mind for a long time. And I was surprised to find this video.
A great reflection about what we are doing with our world.
It is about our overheated lifestyle and needs. It is about crossing the limits. About debt and more debt.
It is the economic bubble which is about to burst.
And between the lines it is about inequality, prosperity and poverty.
The video is from Richard Heinberg, accompanying his book The End of Growth. He don’t give a solution, he give an analysis about our current situation with some historic perspective.
Humanity has reached a fundamental turning point in its economic history. The expansionary trajectory of industrial civilization is colliding with non-negotiable natural limits.
I’m not a fan of the used animation, I’m not a fan either of the, North American style, enormous amount of words. But I’m impressed about explaining our problem in 6:30. Simple and clear.
And a great timing, with the economic recession at the front door.
A really great execution this ad for Top Gear magazine. And again the proof that road safety ads don’t have to be bloody and shocking.
It is a kind of updated version of many ‘Don’t text and drive’ campaigns. Now it is about using social media while driving.
And I experienced this myself. It is dangerous.
Paul Johnson just checked in @ the bottom of the river Thames.
Driving and social media just don’t mix.
As corporate brands continue to seek ways to appeal to today’s more socially conscious consumers (and voters who put their government regulators in office), it is inevitable that partnership opportunities like this arise.
”Fuelling Change” is a CSR initiative by Shell Canada, “supporting environmental projects and organizations selected by voters, Shell will grant a total of $1 million per year to projects that improve and restore Canada’s environment.”
Very similar to the Pepsi Refresh Everything project, it earmarks a portion of marketing budget as grants for cause organizations to compete over. With prizing based on consumer votes, the $1 million CDN ($1,039,000 USD) budget will more than pay for itself in social media outreach, as each contestant activates its social networks in search of votes.
I received a link to the project above because I follow the Canadian Wildlife Federation (makers of Canada’s most beloved vintage PSAs) on Facebook. My mother also forwarded an e-mail appeal she received from them, because my son is a nature nut.
On the surface, I am relieved that some of my gas money is going to mitigate the harm that our fossil fuel dependence has done to our environment. But there are many ways of looking at the issue.
Two great ideas. Two winners of the Arthur Guinness Fund Award. The Fund give up to €1 million in funding to projects that are making a positive impact on their community. It is for social entrepreneurs aged 25-35 “who have a brilliant urban regeneration idea that will make a difference to their local community.”
Above Gregory Chauvet from Glasgow Bike Shed in Scotland. He has recycled 700 bikes - and saved over 7 tonnes from going into landfill. It’s through teaching people how to mend their cycles - and from re-fitting old machines that get dropped off at his Glasgow Bike Shop that he and his team have done it.
The video below is with another winner Edwin Broni Menash from Manchester, England. He wants to combat the over-use of plastic water bottles, and the fact they get tipped into landfill by getting people to use his aluminium bottles filled with tap water. Sold in cafes in Manchester, Edwin is now bringing the project to London, starting in Tottenham. He puts 70p of all sales going to water projects in Africa and is looking to involve athletes from next year’s Olympics as well. More at Give Me Tap.
Tomorrow is World Fair Trade Day. Well, every day is for me (at least in terms of the coffee I drink at work and at home), but I was still happy to see Ben & Jerry’s ice cream doing something to promote the cause.
Ben & Jerry’s Fair Tweets is a browser add-on that filled unused characters in your Twitter updates with messages about the benefits of buying fair trade products. Great idea! However…
Quite a feat of ridiculous greenwashing by Volkswagen Canada. A campaign for Earth Day (22 april).
It is a gorgeous video. And a lousy message “By checking our tire pressure regularly, we could save 24 million litres of gasoline a day.”
VW is this all you can do for Earth Day?
Yes we know, environmental protection isn’t just an issue for the automotive industry. It is a responsibility for all of us.
Why is VW telling us things which is basic knowledge for years?
It is greenwashing which has not been properly thought. Or do they think we are are stupid?
They have a few more tips, the Think Blue Tips (also available on a touch screen at the local dealers):
- try combine shorter trips
- change up early and fill up later
- drive calmly
I recently had the privilege of being invited to speak and participate in the 2012 Design Ethos Conference/Do-ference at Savannah College of Art and Design. The creator of the conference, Scott Boylston, is a longtime friend in the relatively small socially conscious design community and I was delighted that…
Some things in life are easy. We know them, we think of them, we understand them. And then there are those phenomena we would rather not know about. All the bad things … murder, rape, child molestation. We try hard to look away, and most of the time we…
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Osocio is dedicated to social advertising and non-profit campaigns. It’s the place where marketing and activism collide. Formerly known as the Houtlust Blog, Osocio is the central online hub for advertisers, ad agencies, grassroots, activists, social entrepreneurs, and good Samaritans from around the globe.
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