Responsible Marketing ? Heinz #Fail

An interesting thing happened last week. I was in a client meeting and we were discussing sustainability strategy. At one point, the conversation turned to responsible marketing. We started to talk about examples of responsible marketing and I couldn't help but blurt out: "Have you seen the new Heinz Ketchup TV Ads?"

Before you could say "Heinz Ketchup Irresponsible Marketing", EVERYBODY around the table reacted in loud tones of indignation and disapproval. Their response was so immediate that it even took me aback. Most people don't get so enraged by inappropriate marketing, accepting it as an inevitable side-effect of branding and promotional activity.

The current Heinz Ketchup "Be Original" Ads showing in Israel are a far cry from the wholesome, clean, family, humorous and entertaining ads we have been used to from Heinz. In the ad below, two guys have the brainwave-like idea for a new TV Show - isolating a group of people in a house for a couple of months and evicting one, or two, of them every week - a reference to the Big Brother reality show - a  totally depressing TV program that I personally would not want my brand associated with in any way or form.  The guys are apparently suggesting something "original" - hence the tie-in with the campaign tag-line - "Be Original". However, Big Brother is not the issue.  The issue is that these two guys, in mid-bite of their hot-dog,  are suddenly entranced by a sexy blonde waitress in a red uniform, who mysteriously appears to bring them a bottle of Ketchup. See for yourself:

Heinz states in the Company's Communication and Marketing Guidelines, part of the Heinz' Global Code of Conduct, that "Heinz has established guidelines for all of its units and affiliates worldwide related to the marketing of its products..........It is important that all of the Company's communications reflect Heinz's commitment to family-oriented values and its long-standing commitment to proper nutrition and consumer well-being. Heinz must convey these commitments through responsible advertising and messages which promote the healthful consumption of the Company's products."

Is this the family-oriented values face of Heinz Ketchup?

Photo from grey.co.il

I personally think it's a big responsible marketing #FAIL for Heinz, showing disrespect to women, using inappropriate sexual connotations to promote a family food aired on prime time TV when kids of all ages are viewing. Is this really the only way to sell Ketchup? Perhaps it's time I changed brands.

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainability Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen  on Twitter or via my business website www.b-yond.biz/en  (BeyondBusiness, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

Wasting paper #CSR #FAIL

I have finally gotten around to speaking out about a pile of paper that arrives in my mail each month. It's my cellphone invoice. Well, it's all my cellphone transactions. We have three active phones (me, my husband, my daughter), one cellular modem for my laptop and one micro-sim for my iPad. All these charges are paid from my one account. I need at least one printed invoice because my accountant says I cannot submit an electronic version for my business accounts, and my phone and peripherals are a business expense. So, in a normal, reasonable, environmentally conscious world, I would expect to receive one envelope, with one piece of paper listing all the charges that will be deducted by standing order from my account.

This is what I received from my provider, Pelephone:

Seven envelopes and eight pieces of paper.

All for one account.

Every month.

Paper, ink, postage, handling ... seven times more than required. Multiply this by hundreds of thousands of subscribers and the amount of resource wastage is mind boggling.

This is despite a declaration on the Pelephone website that they are committed to environmental protection, although this is as minimal as you can get.

I wrote to Pelephone, asking what they could do about this wastefulness but have yet to receive a response (after 24 hours). An email query promises a response within SEVEN working days while a query on the Pelephone Facebook page promises a response within TWO working days. I decided not to wait. This is the age of instant.

Israel is often cited as having one of the highest per capita usage rates for cellphones worldwide (this may be explained by the link to security concerns and many schoolchildren carry cellphones for this reason). There are three main cellular providers in Israel: Cellcom, Partner (Orange) and Pelephone. It's hard to say that any of them present a good option for sustainability. All have been taken to task by the Israeli government in the past year for anti-consumer policies including prohibitive interconnection charges, lack of transparency regarding fees and connection speed rates, grossly high prices and lack of customer responsiveness. Service is abysmal at all three companies (and I have been a customer of all three at different times). I believe the telecommunications industry is one of the least trusted in the country though, regrettably, one of the most indispensible. As far as sustainability is concerned, Partner, with 32% market share, has produced two sustainability reports, the last one covering 2009. Cellcom has produced one sustainability report covering the year 2008, and Pelephone has produced zero sustainability reports and is the least transparent in all respects of all three companies. 

However, even without a commitment to sustainability, saving resources just makes common sense. Perhaps that's the secret ingredient that is lacking in our celluar industry in my home market. Perhaps common sense is the more difficult thing to achieve than improvement in 3G connection speeds.    

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainability Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices  Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen  on Twitter or via my business website www.b-yond.biz/en  (BeyondBusiness, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

Adobe. Packaging. Green. Fail.

The WAIP (Wasteful and Irresponsible Packaging) Award this week goes to ..........

ADOBE SYSTEMS.

I decided to invest (having moved to a new laptop and upgraded all my other hardware and software), in the new Adobe Acrobat X, which has several improvements over previous versions. I took delivery of the product today, and love the new program! BUT.. the pagkaging really turned me off. This is how Adobe Acrobat X is packaged:

And this is the product that all this lavish cartonboard, lamination, gloss and ink actually houses:

Aside from the wasteful packaging, just think of all that extra air that is being transported all over the world in this box, and all the extra weight that requires all that extra energy to move around.  And the extra cost to me, the consumer, for all of this cost the company is incurring. In a company with an embedded sustainability culture, this wouldn't happen.

Adobe claim to be environmentally conscious and environmentally responsible.Their 2009 CSR summary report proudly notes that Adobe was recognized by Newsweek as one of the 20 greenest companies in the world (This was in 2009. Actually, they ranked #7 in 2010) . Adobe writes "we highly encourage and promote conscientious environmental stewardship among our employees and our business partners." The summary report doesn't refer specifically to packaging, and I couldn't find anything on packaging initiatives on the  Adobe CSR website.  

All in all, a major FAIL for ADOBE in packaging sustainability.
 

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainabilty Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen  on Twitter or via my business website www.b-yond.biz/en  (BeyondBusiness, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

Thumbs Down Deutsche Telekom

This follows on from my post about Deutsch Telekom's 2010 Corporate Reponsibility Report and allegations of anti-union practices. As I usually do, because I believe we have a responsibility to dialogue with companies and engage with them on their reporting, I wrote to the Deutsche Telekom to ask for some clarification. You never know, perhaps it's all a storm in a tea-cup.

My e-mail to the address indicated in the report bounced back. Dud e-mail address. It happens.

I then filled in the online form on the Deutcshe Telekom website. This resulted in a standard response advising me that they "appreciate my interest in Deutsche Telekom" and that I can find all "public informations" on their website.

Ok, I thought, maybe I need to fill in the online contact form speficially on the CR website repeating my request for specific information on a specific subject. I did. This was the response:

Frankly, I have nothing more to say.

elaine cohen is co-founder and co-CEO of Beyond Business, a leading social and environmental consulting and reporting firm. Visit our website at www.b-yond.biz/en