Rob Campbell of cynic - a conversation starting company has called me out on my previous post and quite fairly suggests that Smirnoff are only interested in the purity of their distillation process and not the purity of the environment that we live in. I still live in hope that what we are seeing may well be a small but nonetheless tectonic shift in the future of branding values.
I'll be very disappointed if its a case of greenwashing as has been extensively documented by my esteemed colleague and one of the smartest planners in the business John Grant, on his ace blog Greenormal. But it remains to be seen if Diageo, the parent company of Smirnoff is to use this as an ignition point for their brand. Otherwise it would only be appropriate to add the usual film disclaimer at the end of the commercial that: Any characters and incidents portrayed and the names herein are fictitious, including any resemblance to the issues raised in The Stern report relating to climate change where the polar caps melt and large statues will be covered in water because of our reliance on fossil fuels, best dramatised with the use of oil rigs in advertising.
I think I need a stiff drink now!
Get over to Robs blog for some of the best conversation on the net. He's the future of marketing communications and is fearless about his beliefs, even if that means he has to go right to the top.
I'll be very disappointed if its a case of greenwashing as has been extensively documented by my esteemed colleague and one of the smartest planners in the business John Grant, on his ace blog Greenormal. But it remains to be seen if Diageo, the parent company of Smirnoff is to use this as an ignition point for their brand. Otherwise it would only be appropriate to add the usual film disclaimer at the end of the commercial that: Any characters and incidents portrayed and the names herein are fictitious, including any resemblance to the issues raised in The Stern report relating to climate change where the polar caps melt and large statues will be covered in water because of our reliance on fossil fuels, best dramatised with the use of oil rigs in advertising.
I think I need a stiff drink now!
Get over to Robs blog for some of the best conversation on the net. He's the future of marketing communications and is fearless about his beliefs, even if that means he has to go right to the top.
Great - so now you've pointed the World to my blog auctioning Sir Martin's contact details and now I'm going to get sued, end up in prison and die having spent 30 years eating shit, sleeping on the BOTTOM bunk and having to have a sly wank while 3 other men all snore.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Charles ... thanks a fucking lot.
Oh, and as much as I would love to be the future of marketing comms, lets hope for everyones sake I am not. I definitely have Stalin genes!
Hey, it beats having to beat off on the top bunk Rob.
ReplyDeleteROLF! Gross.
ReplyDeleteOr you could just go on the run Rob. Trust no one ;)
I was told by a client the other day that they had decided to position themselves against the other brands that were trying to claim the green credentials. I imagine they won't be the only ones either.
ReplyDeleteHey Sean. Good to see you here. I might be wrong but it just feels like there's more to this than they are letting on. I hope I'm right :)
ReplyDeleteWell it's quite difficult for a brand to fully claim their environment conscious. In this case, even if it was Diageo intention to build an environment friendly image of Smirnoff, then what about all the CO2 released from that huge production of the commercial itself? Wouldn't it be wiser to convey the message in a cheaper, more energy saving way? Or should they start right from beginning, talking about new material for Smirnoff container for the real sense of purity?
ReplyDeleteAnyway the good side of it is that teh commercial suggests an idea of purifying the environment. SHould be good enough for now.
Well it's quite difficult for a brand to fully claim their environment conscious. In this case, even if it was Diageo intention to build an environment friendly image of Smirnoff, then what about all the CO2 released from that huge production of the commercial itself? Wouldn't it be wiser to convey the message in a cheaper, more energy saving way? Or should they start right from beginning, talking about new material for Smirnoff container for the real sense of purity?
ReplyDeleteAnyway the good side of it is that teh commercial suggests an idea of purifying the environment. SHould be good enough for now.