Starbucks is promoting recycling awareness on their homepage today to celebrate Earth Day.
They set up a street art campaign in the Flat Iron District in New York City, building a tree out of cups of coffee in variegated shades. Each person that put their cup down traded in their paper cup for a reusable mug or tumbler.
The promo asks: "If everyone made one small change, could we change the world?" The spot suggests: "One person changing can save trees, together we can save forests."
The street art creation simultaneously draws attention to the waste that piles up with each cup of take-out coffee, and at the same time, builds a beautiful tree that looks really cool from the aerial shots above. I personally love some of the including shots of passer-by reactions, ranging the curious to the quizzical. Those reaction shots are key to any public viral stunt like this!
Starbucks is backing up the promotion by giving away a free cup of coffee to anyone coming in today (April 22) with their own travel mug. Tumblers and reusable mugs are also on sale today to encourage customers to make the switch and start earth-conscious habits.
On their blog, Starbucks states that "in 2010, people brought their own tumblers into our stores more than 32 million times, keeping nearly 1.45 million pounds of paper out of landfills." It's numbers like those that will hopefully encourage more people to make the change.
We think this is a great example of how brands are using video to promote and spread their corporate goals and values with customers, while tying in good marketing promotions to engage customers. Who doesn't love free coffee?
Happy Earth Day! Have you come across any more good Earth Day Videos today? Share them in the comments!