Most of you are probably familiar with the small frog logo you see on packages of various products. For those of you who aren’t, it is a Rainforest Alliance Certificate that is only awarded to products whose farms meet the rigorous sustainability criteria. The criteria address all of the three pillars of sustainability: environmental protection, social equity, and economic viability. Independent, third party expert auditors evaluate each farm in order to approve the Green Frog Seal.
The Rainforest Alliance started the Leapfrog Campaign in order to promote their work. They are building an ethical economy that benefits some of the most biologically diverse areas of the world by transforming the way the crops are grown, wood is harvested, and benefitting local communities and natural resources.
As part of the Leapfrog Campaign, Max Joseph, who has previously worked with brands such as Nike and Pepsi, wrote and directed this “Follow the Frog” ad in September of 2012.
In a clever way, the campaign’s video encourages consumers to refrain themselves from attempting to travel to the rainforest to save it, and rather to just buy the “follow the frog” campaign products. It reinforces the idea that as a consumer, helping to save the rainforest is not difficult, it just requires consumers to choose rainforest friendly products.
I personally found this ad extremely witty and clever. The power of the consumer is often underestimated, especially when looking at it in a consumer’s individual perspective. Most people believe that their own change in consumption is minimal in proportion to the rest of the world and therefore has no impact on the environment. This idea, however, is slowly changing and with campaigns like “Follow the Frog” consumers are reminded of their ability to influence corporations towards a more sustainable path.
http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/leapfrog/multimedia
Hi Maria,
cool post. I agree that its a great video, that appeals to a large segment of younger consumers that want to do good but don’t necessarily know how. In addition to educating people about doing good by following the frog, it also reminds us that thinking you have to save the world in order to do ‘good’ might be more harmful than helpful. The most important thing is to educate yourself, and educate others by being aware and making the right choices in your daily life. Any engagements beyond that is great, but the mindset of all or nothing won’t get you anywhere.
I love this ad. It definitely aligns with recent critique of people who travel to far-regions of the world to “help” the local communities as a ‘voluntourists’. Realistically, I think having massive populations changing their purchasing habits can actually add up to quite a bit of change. Probably far more than a select few who volunteer a few weeks of their time annually. I’m not saying that those initiatives aren’t worthwhile, I just agree with the video ad that we can’t all do that. But we CAN all buy sustainably sourced products. I know for sure I’ll be looking for the frog in the future!