Video-creation application TikTok teamed up with nonprofit Conservation International on the #SaveOurOceans challenge, aimed at addressing marine plastic pollution and protecting oceans, marine ecosystems and the people whose lives and livelihoods depend on them. Through Sept. 9, TikTok users can add an ocean effect to their videos that lets them virtually clean plastic out of…
As the Amazon rainforest faces unprecedented deforestation, CEOs at the world’s 10 biggest construction tool makers received a peculiar package this week: a sleek wooden sculpture of an endangered animal equipped with a disk-shaped circuit board. The chip, part of a campaign from AKQA Sao Paulo called Code of Conscience, contains an open-source code the…
The small bottles of toiletries know by leisure and business travelers alike are one step closer to becoming extinct as Marriott International, the world’s largest hotel chain, announced it will be replacing its miniatures with larger, pump-top dispensers by 2020. The move follows on the company’s quiet announcement last year–a footnote in its notice about…
When Virgin Voyage’s first ship, The Scarlet Lady, sets sail next spring, it will be without any single-use plastics onboard. That includes water bottles, straws and to-go coffee cups. On the Virgin Voyage site, “sustainability” is given its own page, saying the company aims “to minimize environmental impacts, establish responsible supply chains, promote thriving local…
When InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announced last week it was getting rid of those ubiquitous mini bottles of toiletries from its roughly 843,000 rooms, Jack Read started getting emails. As the in-kind coordinator at Thrive DC, a nonprofit that supports Washington D.C.’s homeless community, Read is responsible for liaising between companies and individuals who want…
The mad scramble to make brands more sustainable is in full swing. And while companies are right to tackle this issue, the truth is that quite a few of them are still getting it wrong. That’s because there are still a few glaring misconceptions about the movement in general; not only what it means to…
Fast fashion is big business but–as it has been reported many, many, times before–it’s killing the planet. That’s why, ThredUp, a fashion resale site, is asking you to reconsider your purchasing habits, opting for secondhand clothing over new items to stop contributing to textile waste. Ahead of Earth Day, ThredUp has unveiled a new capsule…
Unilever asks a heavy question—"Why bring a child into this world?"—in a four-minute video touting Project Sunlight, its new global sustainability initiative. The consumer-goods titan created the short film in collaboration with acclaimed director Errol Morris and many of the same folks from Ogilvy's South American office who created the award-winning "Real Beauty Sketches" for Unilever's Dove brand.
Actually, this is a film within film, as real expectant parents share their hopes and fears about the world their kids will inherit. They also react as they watch a movie that mixes footage of violence and despair with hopeful messages about the future. The tone is emotional, but positive, backed by a pensive piano cover of The Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?"
"Your child could have more possibilities of having a healthier heart than any living person today—and the same chance of a broken heart," the narrator says. "No one can escape that. … And by the time they find the right person, our children will have better chances of meeting their great-grandchildren than we ever did."
Nearing 2.5 million YouTube views in just two days, the clip clearly resonates with many viewers, such as this commenter on Unilever's Facebook page: "I cried at this video. … Righteous work! I hope more people see this video and are inspired."
Of course, not all viewers were won over. One YouTube commenter scoffed at the premise of a consumer brand helping save the world: "So they claim they 'save lives?' They make soap, people. Look, if they really cared they would invest all the billions of euros they make in profit into cancer research or something … Unilever is once again trying to take credit for something they have no business taking credit in by putting together some overdramatic commercial to fool people into thinking they are not in business to make those billions of euros."
The existential implications of the central question—"Why bring a child into this world?"—are so intense, I give Unilever points for having the guts to go this route in the first place.
But do we really need a big company to ask such questions? Is it Unilever's place to curate such a conversation which, no matter how well intentioned, is ultimately designed to improve the image of its brand and boost the bottom line?
Via Mashable.
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