Toshiba Cancels National No-Print Day Campaign

by | Jun 26, 2012

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Toshiba America Business Solutions says it will cancel its National No-Print Day Campaign in response to protests from the commercial paper and print industries.

TABS, the managed print and professional services branch of electronics and electrical equipment maker Toshiba Corp.,  launched the campaign earlier this month at the Sustainable Brands 2012 Conference in San Diego. At the time, the Irvine, Calif.-based company said the campaign was part of its ongoing mission to get businesses to print smarter and practice sustainable consumption.

The message behind the campaign, which was directed at end users who frequently told the company they’d like to print less, was to reduce unnecessary office paper waste, Toshiba said. The provocative name and message unfortunately led to a misconception of the campaign goals by the paper and print industries, Toshiba said.

Michael Makin, president and CEO of the Printing Industries of America, wrote in a a letter to the trade group’s members that Toshiba’s top exec committed to going back to the drawing board and that any re-launch of the campaign directed at office waste will explicitly explain this in no way refers to the legitimate commercial printing industry and its importance to the American economy, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

Toshiba, which created a website as well as Facebook and LinkedIn pages for the campaign, had scheduled the first annual National No-Print Day for October 23. The campaign included “Tree,”  a mascot featured in webisodes that could be shared via Facebook and LinkedIn. The website and social media channels associated with the day have been unpublished since Toshiba cancelled the campaign.

National No-Print Day was designed to fit into Toshiba Corp.’s larger commitment to plant 1.5 million trees by 2025, in celebration of the company’s 150th anniversary.

Last April, TABS announced it had achieved 410 percent year-on-year growth in its recycling of ink cartridges and other printing products and said it was expanding the program further. The company has partnered with recycler Close the Loop to collect ink cartridges, toner bottles, drum units and similar used items. Close the Loop converts the materials into a composite used in park benches, fences and garden boxes.

 Photo by stock.xchng

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