While searching for a topic to discuss this week, I stumbled upon an article that presents some of the noteworthy eco-friendly advertising that has been conducted in the past. The article labels this tactic, “greenvertising,” and describes it as ads that help the planet, or at least, “reduce their impact upon it.”

For example, this billboard by Tropicana used the product’s own ingredients to provide electricity to light up the ad. But do not fret, Tropicana and DDB Paris promised to recycle the 2,500 oranges by composting and through other interesting methods.

Coca Cola created another billboard that claimed to not only reduce their advertisement’s impact on the environment, but actually help it. The ad used recyclable materials and Fukien Tea plants to absorb air pollutants.

These advertisements work for a number of reasons. They’re especially unique, so they grab consumers attention and achieve their primary purpose as an advertisement. And of course, they provide certain benefits to the planet that perhaps other such advertisements fail to do. Finally, these ads force marketers to collaborate and innovate, and give them a chance to reflect on the impact their traditional advertising has had on the environment.

Obviously, there are some reasons to be concerned – the environmental costs of transporting 2,500 perfectly healthy oranges to Paris for a billboard is questionable. These ads do appear to follow the lines of an accentuate growth strategy. Therefore, we have to be wary of greenwashing, and realize that just because one aspect of the company has turned green, there could be other areas of the business that are cause for concern.

If anything, these ads are creative, and are likely a step in the right direction for advertisers to reduce their impact on the environment. My personal favourite is an awareness campaign by WWF that used only one leaflet, and allowed YouTube to do the rest of the work for them. Talk about cost-effective!