From Starbucks to American Airlines, dozens of big-name brands announced plastic straw bans this year, bringing attention to an environmental cause that, according to a new survey, is starting to break through. The issue tops the list of the most-remembered food stories of 2018, with 51 percent of U.S. adults aware of it, according to Hunter Public Relations.
This marks the first year an environmental issue led the list, which the MDC Partners-owned PR shop has published every year since 2003.
One reason Americans recalled the straw news was a widely-shared video of marine biologists removing a straw stuck in the nose of a sea turtle. The video was shot in 2015 but continued to garner millions of views this year. And bans have started to take hold. Starbucks in July said it would begin eliminating single-use plastic straws, instead offering strawless lids or straws made from another material. And California passed a law that starting in 2019 makes it the first state to ban full-service restaurants from offering plastic straws (unless customers ask for them).
Continue reading at AdAge.com
