GDUSA Green Newsletter
FEBRUARY 2011

NO MADNESS TO THIS METHOD

Method, the home-care innovator, joins a select group of companies – think Apple, Nike, IBM, Jet Blue, Target, Herman Miller, Harley Davidson – who hold an AIGA Corporate Leadership Award. Perhaps more than any previous winner, Method is being honored for a commitment to sustainability integral to every aspect of its design and marketing. That, in turn, has given its brand a rare authenticity and changed the way consumers perceive environmentally friendly cleaning products. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it’s done.
– Gordon Kaye

Graphic Design News

AIGA CORPORATE LEADERSHIP
The coveted AIGA Corporate Leadership Awards go to renowned jeweler Tiffany & Co. and household products maker Method for their contributions to design and the profession. “A commitment to design excellence, deep in the DNA of an organization, is not limited to any legacy or market segment. It is built through enlightened corporate management and respect for those customers you choose to serve,” says AIGA executive director Ric Gref´. Both companies are lauded for their sustainable activities in reducing waste and encouraging recycling, with a special salute to Method for the company’s revolutionary laundry detergent, where a focus on design at every stage led to a smaller package, a more efficient formula and a pump cap to prevent common “overdosing” which occurs when people overestimate the amount of detergent needed. AIGA will present the award to the co-winners at its gala in NYC this April. At that time, AIGA Medalists Steve Frykholm, John Maeda and Jennifer Morla will also be honored.

CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG
Chevron’s major ad campaign, “We Agree,” seeks to address negative images of big oil and suggest that the company is taking positive measures such as investing in clean energy. Print and online ads, plus YouTube commercials, are the work of hot New York ad agency McGarryBowen. “We were asked to show an agreeable, involved, of-the-people face for Chevron, and we think we came up with some really great ways of doing that,” says CCO Gordon Bowen. One downside: the campaign is being spoofed by a group called the Yes Men, joining forces with environmental advocacy groups, to create nasty parodies.

BIO-BASED LABELING
Products made with renewable materials in the U.S. now have a label to show their bio-based content. A new program from the Department of Agriculture allows companies to certify how much bio-based content their products and packaging have, and to display that on a special label. The voluntary program is an extension of the department's BioPreferred program, which previously focused just on highlighting bio-based products for preferential government purchasing.Products can carry the label if they contain a minimum of 25 percent content that falls under the wide swath of renewable plant, forestry, animal and marine materials.

PEDESTRIAN CROSSING
DDB China Group won five awards at the 2011 AME Awards. The Green Pedestrian Crossing campaign for the China Environmental Protection Foundation took home a gold in the Low Budget category, two silvers for Outdoor/Transit and PR, and a bronze for Design.

A NEW GENDER GAP
People over the age of 55, and men in particular, are twice as likely to believe that shopping for green products makes no difference. That, according to ad insight firm Crowd Science. More men also believe that green marketing is a ploy and are generally less likely to shop with ethics in mind. Crowd Science VP Sandra Marshall notes “an interesting gap in what we call ‘green shopitudes’ when you consider gender, age, and education. Women and younger age groups appear to be more eco-centric when it comes to shopping practices.”

GREENEST SUPERBOWL YET
The Super Bowl ate enough energy to power 1,500 homes for a year. Still, it was an event brought to you by nature; at least that’s the pitch from the NFL, which contends that this year’s championship is the greenest yet. The League has claimed environmental credentials for the big game for years, assembling a roster of positive acts: recycling paper, shuttling leftover food to shelters, sponsoring tree plantings in the host communities, and the like. Though the League backed off its initial assertion that the Super Bowl would be “carbon neutral” – offsetting all the CO2 resulting from the event to wind up with a zero net increase in greenhouse gases – the effort appears significant. Through the use of renewable energy certificates and the efforts of Just Energy, the NFL and Host Committee offset much of the carbon emissions from power usage at major Super Bowl XLV venues. Most notably, for every megawatt of electricity used at the one megawatt of renewable energy was generated by the Sweetwater Wind Farm located west of Dallas.

FLOORS AND FLOWERS
Shaw Industries launches a national advertising campaign based on its commitment to green. “I want a floor that is designed to be recycled” is the straightforward message of the shelter magazine campaign. Kathy Young, Shaw’s CD, says “Today's consumer is invited to choose green products in more and more market segments.”