#WorldEnvironmentDay: When brands decided to go green

Seven billion dreams. One planet. Consume with care. That’s the theme of this year’s #WorldEnvironmentDay, which is taking place in Italy. On this auspicious day Social Samosa takes a look at ads from brands who’ve taken a major step towards going green.

1. Method – Small Packs a Punch

Method Laundry Detergent used a catchy musical number to show how just a little laundry detergent goes a very long way. The ad encourages consumers to stop wasting washing liquid and promotes a cleaner and greener tomorrow.

2. Toyota Prius - Harmony

To promote the eco-friendly Prius Hybrid, Toyota created a commercial with a short but extremely impactful message. The 30-second spot showed a Prius driving past desolate wastelands that erupted in greenery and color as soon as it drove past, while a calming voice-over highlighted the benefits of a Prius both to the owner and to the environment.

3. Sun Chips – Compostable Chip Bag

To celebrate Earth Day, 2010, Sun Chips created the world’s first ever bio-degradable chip bag. Their simple time-lapse video shows the packaging completely breaking down over the course of 14 weeks.

4. Pepsi - Refresh Everything

The Pepsi Refresh Project asks one simple question – could a soda really make the world a better place? The event encouraged users to come up with ideas to make the world cleaner and have the community vote for the favourite submissions on social media. The winning entries were awarded a Pepsi Refresh grant to realize their ideas.

5. Volkswagen - The Fun Theory

Volkswagen made conservation fun with this innovative idea that encouraged people to take the stairs instead of using an escalator by turning a staircase into a giant piano. While walking up and down the stairs, subway commuters were able to make unique tunes of their own, saving power simultaneously.

6. Starbucks - Month of Service

With their Global Month of Service campaign, Starbucks highlighted how much good an individual could do in a single afternoon, and then asked customers to imagine what they could accomplish as a community over an entire month. This initiative encouraged people to volunteer with Starbucks and work together where they were needed most.

7. GE- Ecoimagination

With ecoimagination, GE uses their considerable resources and technical expertise to develop cleaner, more efficient technology for a variety of different sectors and businesses. They want to make everything from medical science to aviation more eco-friendly.

8. Diesel Clothing - Global Warming Ready

Cleverly disguised as a news report, this ad informs viewers of the very real dangers of global warming, before suddenly switching to the absurdist and excessive tone that diesel marketing is usually known for – with one eye-opening alteration, all the locations behind the Diesel models have been catastrophically effected by climate change.

9. Tide - Cold Water Heroes

Tide Cold Water is a detergent that doesn’t need heated water to effectively clean clothes, leading to significant energy savings. Tide promoted this detergent with video profiles of people who live and work in extremely cold conditions, and for whom a detergent like this one would be most useful.

10. BMW - Ch-Ch-Changes

After showing viewers the harmful effects of vehicle emissions, BMW proposed a better way to drive, with their eco-friendly range of diesel cars.