In the three months ending June 14, marketers shelled out a combined $18 million on green-focused TV ads, according to TNS Media Intelligence, USA Today reports. Those kinds of numbers have made eco-marketing a hot topic of discussion at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, the industry’s biggest global trade and awards show. Here are some green advertising highlights:
South African Nedbank took the Grand Prix in the outdoor ad competition at Cannes this week for its Power to the People billboard. The sign has 10 solar panels, each generating 135 watts of electricity, that are powering the kitchen of a nearby primary school.
GE’s Ecomagination campaign of TV, print and Web executions, by BBDO in New York, will get nearly 100 percent of GE’s corporate ad budget this year. “Ecomagination is a business initiative first and foremost,” says Judy Hu, general manager for corporate advertising. “We aren’t being charitable. We’re doing something that makes good business sense.”
Pepsi is a sponsor for the July 7 Live Earth concerts. Concertgoers who turn in Pepsi containers at stores at the concert venues get credit toward buying recycled products. For instance, at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, people can turn in cans and bottles for a messenger bag made from recycled material.
Lithuanian electronics recycler EMP won a Silver Lion for media planning with a campaign encouraging people to turn in for recycling old electronics sitting unused in attics and garages. EMP worked with Universal McCann to place old TVs on buses, with a message about how much space they waste.
