In 2009, Toronto agency, The Hive, created a national campaign for all of Cadbury’s sub-brands, called The Bicycle Factory. The goal of the campaign was to build 5000 specially designed bicycles and deliver them to Ghana where they would turn long walks into short rides for thousands of school children.
Consumers could turn Cadbury UPC codes into bicycle parts. One product equaled one bike part. 100 parts built a full bike. Users could watch the bikes being built in real time while learning about the difference that the bicycles are making in the lives of young people on the campaign website.
The Hive was an early uptaker of cause campaigns. It believed that the days of consumers caring about contests to win a car or a trip were over. Bicycles were chosen because they were solution-focused representations of joy. For people in first world countries they represent joy in the form of fun, fitness and fresh air. In Ghana, they represent hope, opportunity and sometimes survival.
Why Ghana? It is the world’s second largest cocoa exporter behind Cote D’Ivoire. In 2008, Cadbury launched its Cocoa Partnership with the country, an effort to promote sustainability and empower cocoa farming communities. The Bicycle Factory grew from that.
5000 bikes were delivered to central and southern Ghana in late 2009.
Since 2009, Cadbury has sent nearly 30,000 bicycles to school children in central and southern Ghana.
Now The Hive is extending the program. While the program has helped to make travelling to and from school more easy for kids, studying may still be virtually impossible after sundown when the (natural) lights go out.
So, The Generator Project has just been launched.
Producer, Sumit Anjwani, and industrial designer, Adam Bellavance, have created a 3D-printed generator to power a removable light with the energy generated through the donated cycles. The generator was designed and manufactured with the special challenges of the Ghanaian climate and terrain in mind. The little lamp is attached to the bicycle and every 5 kilometres biked produces two hours of light. The removable light can also brighten a small room and charge mobile phones.
We like The Hive and what it stands for. Here’s a sampler:
