Mars is reusing old ads in a sustainability bid. The digital and OOH campaign, Healthy Planet Productions, uses famous ads from the past to show how it will leave a lighter environmental footprint. The campaign follows the September publication of the Mars Net Zero Roadmap, a US$1bn commitment to, and explanation of how it will, achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050.
In its blog, Mars explained that the initiative comes from a recent Ipsos-Mars survey of more than 14,000 people across the world’s seven largest economies, that found 69% of adults want business to focus on tackling climate change as much as (32%), or more than (37%), economic issues.
Ads in the campaign will run in the US, UK and Mexico across Meta and YouTube and will include out-of-home activations in select markets. In the US, the campaign will feature ads for M&Ms, TWIX and Ben’s Original; in the UK ads will feature Bounty, M&Ms and TWIX; in Mexico, M&Ms.
Andrew Clarke, global president of Mars Wrigley, was quoted in the blog, “They share our urgency in tackling climate change, but it’s not always clear what companies are doing to deliver real change. That is why we decided to use our iconic brands in the adverts consumers know and love and deliver a message of hope and optimism on climate change. We are taking action now to reduce carbon emissions – from working with farmers to protect forests to sourcing renewable electricity. We want consumers to know we’re working on having tangible impact now.”
Barry Parkin, Mars Wrigley chief procurement and sustainability officer, added, “When we launched our Net Zero Roadmap back in September, we talked about delivering real impact and the need to inspire and involve everyone in the challenge. With this campaign, Mars is taking the work we are doing across our value chain to reduce carbon emissions and making it easy for consumers to engage and feel good about the products and brands they know and love.”
The campaign reduced production emissions by cutting emissions and removing the need for travel, filming and set production by repurposing content. It also minimised remaining emissions by prioritising carbon avoidance as a key consideration in decision-making and creative development, including forgoing emission-intensive animation techniques for more sustainable methods. Mars also partnered with organisations and businesses such as Certified Green Energy Offices and Studios, committed to sustainability and that hold industry designations.
