Brilliant UNICEF Ad
I love this ad. Very powerful imagery and it fits the message perfectly.
Technorati Tags: UNICEF, advertising, Cool, Pollution, Water
Unilever Increases Focus on Sustainable Palm Oil
Update from previous post on Unilever vs. Greenpeace.
Unilever has taken the recent GreenPeace protests to heat and have really focused on changing the situation on the ground as well as via it’s communication channels. At least, that’s according to Unilever’s communication, let’s hope some accountability will be rendered in order to make sure Unilever is living up to its promises, this statement of mistrust is not baseless, since corporations are known to bend the rules and the PR machines to their will.
Back to Unilever… CEO, Patrick Cescau has announced a new policy on palm oil.
Unilever will begin using Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) later this year, as soon as it is available as a tradeable commodity. For the palm oil it uses in Europe, it has pledged to have fully traceable supply chains in place by 2012: just four years away. And by 2015 all Unilever’s palm oil will be certified sustainable.
Announcing the move at the Prince of Wales’ May Day Climate Change Summit in London, attended by the Prince of Wales and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Group Chief Executive Patrick Cescau said: “We are only part of the solution of course, but we want to be an agent for positive change, as we have been in fish, tea and other areas.
“We are committed to doing this because we believe it is the right thing to do for the people who use our products, for the environment and communities in and around which palm oil is grown and for our businesses and brands.”
Leading environmental campaigner Jonathon Porritt, a member of Unilever’s Sustainable Development Panel, said: “We are delighted to see these new commitments on palm oil… These are ambitious targets and Unilever’s readiness to take a leadership role in establishing secure, certified supply chains for palm oil is particularly significant.”
And the Prince of Wales personally welcomed Patrick’s announcement, saying: “This is a ground-breaking development that could make all the difference to the future of the rainforests.”
Unilever is also supporting the call for a moratorium on any further deforestation in Indonesia for Palm oil.
If anything else, this at least shows that one corporation is active in making a positive change in our world. the seriousness of the situation cannot be underestimated both in terms of the environmental situation in terms of sustainable palm oil as well as Unilever standing up in front of the Public in full view and committing itself to making a real change on the ground and not some dodgy PR manipulation.
for urther information on Unilever’s position, you can visit http://www.unilever.com/palmoil
Technorati Tags: Unilever, Environment, Sustainable, Palm Oil, GreenPeace
How to Design a Logo: Beijing 2008
I got this on e-mail and made an animation from it. I totally support the Reporters Sans Frontieres in their boycott of the Beijing Olympics. Such an oppressive regime doesn’t deserve to be given such an honour or any economic benefit.
Technorati Tags: Beijing, Olympics, 2008, Oppression, Animation, Logo
Al-Jazeera Cameraman Freed from Guantanamo
Sami Al Hajj, the Al Jazeera Camerman has been finally freed after years of detention and torture at Guantanamo Bay.
He has been on Hunger Strike for the past 16 months protesting against being held without trial or charge since December 2001.
Zachary Katznelson, a lawyer with the Reprieve organisation has worked with Al Hajj’s case since 2005 and has visited him 10 times since then , the last time just three weeks ago.
“He looks like an ill man, he has problems with his kidneys, liver, blood in his urine and there are concerns that he may have cancer.”
Katznelson said that the cameraman’s release was probably motivated by political concerns.
“I think this is part of a larger picture between the United States and Sudan, that they are trying to bring those countries closer together,” he said.
“Sudan, one of the primary demands they made to the United States, is if you want to normalise relations with us you have to give something back, and one of the things is the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.”
Martin Mubanga, a former Gitmo detainee himself, has said that Sami had refused to be broken during his time Guantanamo Bay and his stime there had strengthened his resolve against the American Authorities due to his horrible treatment and the US’s blatant tactics to gain ‘dirt’ on Al Jazeera.
Wadah Khanfar, Al Jazeera’s MD will be in Khartoum to welcome back Sami and has criticised the Us for the tactics they used in order to spy on Al Jazeera.
“We are concerned about the way the Americans dealt with Sami, and we are concerned about the way they could deal with others as well,” he said.
“Sami will continue with Al Jazeera, he will continue as a professional person who has done great jobs during his work with Al Jazeera.
“We congratulate his family and all those who knew Sami and loved Sami and worked for this moment.”
Unilever vs. Greenpeace: Palm oil and the Borneo Forests
by Muhammad on April 23, 2008
in Uncategorized
Protests by Greenpeace at a Unilever factory in Port Sunlight, near Liverpool (left) and dressed as orang utans outside the companies headquarters at Blackfriars, London (middle and right)
On Monday 21 April, Greenpeace protesters, many wearing ‘orang-utan’ outfits, descended on Unilever to protest about the use of palm oil in its products. They entered Port Sunlight in Liverpool, UK, at about 6.30am and chained themselves to machinery, stopping production on some product lines.
In London, a mobile advertising hoarding was placed on a traffic island in front of the corporate headquarters and protesters were ‘aping’ around on a seven metre high balcony above the entrance to the building.
Meanwhile in Rotterdam, abseilers unfurled a large banner on the glass frontage of Unilever’s building overlooking the river.
That was a Unilever communication regarding the recent Green Peace Protests against Unilever. When reading the full story though, it wasn’t only the Palm Oil that Greenpeace were protesting over, it was also the fact that the production of Unilever’s products contributes to the destruction of the orangutan’s last forest habitat in Borneo.
What irks me is that Unilever’s communication doesn’t tie the orangutan outfits the Greenpeace activists were wearing with the fact that they were trying to make a point about the orangutan’s habitat. The communication just makes it seem like the Green Peace activists are a bunch of monkeys.
Greenpeace’s report, Burning up Borneo, says that Unilever uses 1.3 million tons of palm oil or derivative products a year, some three per cent of global production. It says the company gets half of this from Indonesia, now the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet because of deforestation.
The report says there is currently a massive expansion into Kalimantan’s peatland forest areas by Unilever’s suppliers and accuses the company of derailing international efforts to tackle climate change. - The Telegraph
From Unilever’s perspective, they assert that Unilever does chair the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm oil and that “the real problem is that demand for palm oil has exploded in recent years as demand from India and China has increased. Another major factor is the use of palm oil as a feedstock in the production of biofuels.”
Gavin Neath (SVP of Unilever Global Communications) says: “Unilever has a long history of promoting sustainability, for example in fish and tea. But in both cases, we only made the commitments when we had done sufficient work to ensure that we could keep our promises and maintain the security of our supply chain. This is the responsible and sustainable approach.”
Protesters on the roof a Unilever factory in Port Sunlight and an orang-utan talks to a passing motorcyclist
What needs to be highlighted here is that we should, like Green Peace is doing, hold corporations accountable for their practices. Especially since the main aim of corporations is to turn a profit and increase shareholder value, we need to make sure that this motive doesn’t overshadow the corporation’s environmental and social responsibilities. Equally, we need to give credit where credit is due and Unilever is one of the most socially responsible Corporations there is. Let’s hope their focus on Sustainable Palm Oil will render some fruitful results for everyone… including the Orangutans.
UPDATE: Unilever Increases Focus on Sustainable Palm Oil.
Technorati Tags: Unilever, Green Peace, Environment, Activism, Protest, Borneo, Orangutan, Rainforests, Palm oil
Mental Detox Week – April 21- 27
The idea is simple: take your TV, your DVD player, your video iPod, your XBOX 360, your laptop, your PSP, and say goodbye to them all for seven days. Simple, but not at all easy. Like millions of others before you, you’ll be shocked at just how difficult – yet also how life-changing – a week spent unplugged can really be.
The guys at Adbusters have been doing the above campaign which used to be dubbed TV Turnoff Week, for quite a few years now. I think it’s a great exercise in general even if we don’t totally disconnect ourselves from technology but just take a break from it all. Go outside, take a walk, play a sport, read a book. We do need some form of balance in our lives and I feel this initiative could be a very rewarding exercise. I don’t agree with it being just one week though… this should be a weekly habit where you take time off from the Robot-Race and just chill with a world other than the virtual.
Renew yourself, Disconnect.
Technorati Tags: Mental Detox, Turnoff, Relax, Disconnect
