Modelling the Barbie and Ken Experience! What a Successful Social Action Campaign Looks Like

Transcription

1 Modelling the Barbie and Ken Experience! What a Successful Social Action Campaign Looks Like

2 The Challenge Barbie manufacturer, Mattel, was using products from Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), a pulp and paper company notorious for destroying Indonesian rainforests, including the habitat of the endangered Sumatran tiger.

3 The Goal Using YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr, Greenpeace launched an interactive online/offline campaign to get Mattel (the world's largest toy manufacturer) to alter their supply chain for Barbie packaging. The goal was to get the toy company to halt practices that threaten the rainforest and tiger habitation there.

4 The Players Greenpeace: is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over 40 countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity" and focuses its work on world wide issues such as global warming, deforestation, overfishing, commercial whaling and anti-nuclear issues. Greenpeace uses direct action, lobbying and research to achieve its goals. The global organization does not accept funding from governments, corporations or political parties, relying on more than 2.8 million individual supporters and foundation grants. Greenpeace is a founding member of the INGO Accountability Charter; an international nongovernmental organization that intends to foster accountability and transparency of non-governmental organizations.

5 The Players Mattel Inc.: is the world's largest toy company based on revenue.[2] The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles.

6 Greenpeace used YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr to create a story in which Ken finds out Barbie is harming the rainforest and subsequently breaks up with her. Through the breakup the public learns more and more about the harm Barbie is doing to the rainforest.

7 June In the middle of an interview Ken, the other half of the world's most famous doll couple, is shocked to discover Barbie's shameful secret: she was wrapping herself in destroyed rainforest from Indonesia.! Barbie's deforestation habit was fed by Barbie's manufacturer Mattel - who was purchasing products from Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), a company notorious for its trashing of Indonesia's rainforests and peatlands.

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9 June 7 - Ken's interview goes public on YouTube and other video sites in over 20 different languages (including Chinese and Arabic)! Followed quickly by the news that Ken had broken it off with the world's most famous doll, announcing "Barbie, It's over! I don't date girls who are into deforestation."

10 As news of their breakup takes off on Twitter a fresh drama breaks out at Mattel's headquarters in California where activists were demanding Mattel stop wrapping Barbie in packaging that comes at the cost of rainforests - including the home of the endangered Sumatran tiger

11 As news of their breakup takes off on Twitter a fresh drama breaks out at Mattel's headquarters in California where activists were demanding Mattel stop wrapping Barbie in packaging that comes at the cost of rainforests - including the home of the endangered Sumatran tiger

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13 In the midst of all this the doll herself was pulled over by police while riding her bright pink bulldozer in a 'bulldozer-free' zone.

14 Thousands of concerned people all over the world began to Mattel and post messages to Barbie's Facebook page - telling the toy manufacturer to stop the destruction of rainforests for throwaway toy packaging.

15 June 10 - The stream of comments to Barbie's Facebook page becomes strong enough for Mattel to close the page temporarily.

16 As the world begins to learn the details behind Mattel and Barbie's deforestation habit, including the connections of other toy companies like Hasbro, Disney and Lego to rainforest destruction, the former couple begins exchanging bitter tweets.

17 The public Twitter feud culminates in Barbie accidentally tweeting (instead of DMing) an inappropriate picture of herself in middeforestation to Ken.

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19 As the days pass without a firm commitment from Mattel, to ensure Barbie's deforestation habit ends, Ken's tweets about the plight of Indonesia's rainforests become increasingly desperate...

20 The Results The campaign led to Mattel taking action against deforestation, adding to the pressure from other companies - among them Nestlé, Unilever and Carrefour, who are also taking action on these issues. These companies are committing to removing deforestation from their supply chains and from their products. This hasn t happened yet with APP. Greenpeace reported on the tragic costs of how APP operates including the death of a Sumatran tiger on the border of an APP owned concession. The Greenpeace tiger eye tour has been documenting continued forest destruction by APP. Greenpeace activists have exposed APP s persistent attempts to greenwash its image and pass itself off as a company that cares and acts responsibly towards the environment.

21 The Results

22 The Results Ken and Barbie's split over rainforest destruction had all the hallmarks of a public celebrity fallout: there was scandal, name-calling, and inappropriate photos. In October 2011 Mattel announced it would drop deforestation. But the question remains: Will Ken and Barbie be able to put this behind them?

23 The Results Why do you think this campaign was so successful?

24 The Results This campaign is a superb example of combining many different online tools into one campaign. While many organizations and movements may not have the same resources as Greenpeace to produce super slick videos and giant posters- the same tactics can be used.

25 Lessons Learned!! Engage your audience where they already are. YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.!!! Give a clear concise message that includes a action item. For Greenpeace the message was the harm being done by Mattel to the rainforest and the tigers. The action item was for consumers to tell Mattel that this was unacceptable to them: on Mattel's FB page, Twitter handle, by phone call or letter.!! Hook with humor. By launching the campaign with a cute funny video Greenpeace got their audience's attention right away. They filled in the details later. barbie, it's over