Brands - Battle of the Green's

Lately environmental commitment seems to be the latest trend for companies. Either in their mission statements, or advertising there is a line which states how committed to the environment that company is, but is this enough?

Brands today have found a more direct and creative way to depict their commitment to sustainability initiatives. 

Richoh for instance put up a solar powered billboard in Times Square. This billboard is surrounded by solar panels and wind turbines to give it the energy it needs to do its job, and if it is in-sufficient then that risk is what they readily accept. This is a fantastic idea, as by using renewable sources and opting not to use electricity at any time Richoh commitment is demonstrated, but you got to wonder if this is practiced throughout the company as well.



Coca - Cola on the other hand have demonstrated their own commitment to the environment by the first actual "living" billboard in the Philippines. The billboard itself in covered in thousands of Fukien tea plants which are housed in recycled Coca- Cola bottles and use organic fertilizer. The billboard helps alleviate air pollutants in a country which have an active battle with air pollution. This form of advertising is not only sustainable but actually gives back to the community.

If i had to pick I would say that between both brands Coca - Cola is definite winner. It's innovative, promotes the brand as well as doing its job, taking sustainable advertising to a whole new level. Coca-Cola overall is very proud of its commitment to sustainability and this is just another one of it ways of showing us.

As brands find new ways of demonstrating how committed to the environment they are it would be interesting to see the creative developments, which ideally will not only help promote the brand but actually give back to the community. This would be one type of advertising people can't complain about and you got to wonder at how     much energy consumption will be reduced!