Producing and distributing advertising creates CO2. Even the ads made for sustainable companies and environmental organisations create CO2.

But for the UN’s World Environment Day, June 5, Mediaplus ran the World’s First Carbon Neutral Ad Breaks. The campaign promotes the Green GRP, an initiative by which companies can offset the emissions caused by advertising. Mediaplus was the first agency on the market to launch the Green GRP.

The Green GRP is a calculation model, developed in cooperation with ClimatePartner, which determines the individual CO2 footprint of each media mix and the amount of offsetting required in relation to each climate protection project.

The fully offset ad breaks aired in Austria, France and Germany, plus TV and radio ads in Italy and Switzerland and offered to Serviceplan Group clients who want to position themselves as first movers for more climate neutrality.

Mediaplus is using the World’s First Carbon Neutral Ad Breaks to draw attention to the fact that the Green GRP can offset the inevitable carbon footprint caused by advertising. The openers in the ad breaks state, “In Celebration of today’s World Environment Day you are now watching Germany’s (Austria’s, France’s….) first ever climate neutral ad break.” At the end comes the tagline, “All aired spots have been CO2 neutralised. The first step towards climate neutral advertising.” A note also appears describing specifically how this can be achieved: “Green GRP. An initiative of Mediaplus Group & ClimatePartner,”  displaying the certificate number to create transparency about the offset payments made.

In Germany, Hipp, Bahlsen, Saturn and LinkedIn took part in the Germany’s first climate-neutral ad break. In Austria, Familienmolkerei Ehrmann, Schwabe Austria, simpli services, Capri-Sun & all i need, as well as Salzburgerland Tourismus took part. On M6, France’s second TV channel, an ad break was scheduled before the evening news bulletin, featuring spots by DeLonghi, Milleret, Qonto, Selency, Urgo and Twinings. Special advertising placements were also prepared in Switzerland and Italy.

Climate protection is an important issue for the entire Serviceplan Group. In Germany Serviceplan has been climate neutral since 2020 and agency subsidiary, Mediaplus, launched the Green GRP at the beginning of this year. 

Andrea Malgara, managing partner of Mediaplus Group, explained, “As an agency, we see it as our duty to contribute to the climate neutrality of the advertising market. As a company, we are climate-neutral, and with the Green GRP we are also making our product, advertising placements, climate neutral. We are delighted to be able to use this idea to draw attention to this important issue and would like to thank all the media partners who have made this possible”.

The Green GRP is available to all market partners – agencies, media companies and advertisers – as an open initiative.

Matthias Brüll, managing partner of Mediaplus International, noted, “Climate protection is a global issue. Our goal is to roll out the Green GRP globally in cooperation with ClimatePartner. With the first climate-neutral ad break, we took our message to Austria, France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland as a first step. Other countries will follow.”

Find more information on the Green GRP here.

Credits:

Mediaplus Group: Andrea Malgara & Matthias Brüll
Mediaplus France: Frédérique Auvitu, Perrine Collin, Pascale Merzereau, Michel Marret, Valérie Roumegoux, Eric Hélie, Pauline Da silva Simoes, Arnaud Laridan & Florence Belard
Mediaplus Austria: Katharina Amon, Hilal Betül Külec, Sandra Schnurpfeil, Bernhard Redl & Ronald Hochmayer
Serviceplan Group:  Jason Romeyko, Matthias Harbeck, Michael Wilk, Maximilian Schoengen & Lorenz Langgartner