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Earth Day 2021: brands from P&G to Apple take action on climate change

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By Imogen Watson, Senior reporter

April 22, 2021 | 8 min read

As we celebrate Earth Day’s 51st anniversary, brands from Apple to P&G are seizing the opportunity to encourage consumers to live more sustainably. The Drum rounds up the best Earth Day ads so far.

Earth Day 2021: the best ads from P&G, Apple and Budweiser

Earth Day 2021: the best ads from P&G, Apple and Budweiser

Marking the second Earth Day to fall during a global pandemic, similarly to last year activations have shifted online in lieu of physical gatherings.

The past 12 months have put the environment under tighter focus, with people learning to live more sustainably under Covid-19. And with the pandemic underlining the importance of brand purpose, there has been a definite increase in brands pushing sustainability further up their agenda.

For this year’s 51st anniversary celebrations, brands from P&G to Apple, Sodastream to Budweiser have brought out ads that encourage people to care more about the environment.

Handpicked below are the best campaigns so far this year.

Procter & Gamble: #ItsOurHome

According to a study in Canada by Procter & Gamble (P&G) 71% of people want to do more to be sustainable at home, while 76% of parents are inspired by their children to do so.

And so, this Earth Day, it wants to help close the gap between intention and action by helping people make small changes at home, which can make a world of difference for the planet.

Carl’s Jr. and Beyond Meat:

Burger joint Carl’s Jr. is going vegan for a whole day. Teaming up with Beyond Meat, the plant-based meat menu takeover will take place at a local restaurant in Los Angeles.

Beyond Burger

Panera: Bread Bowl Bike

This Earth Day, Panera wants people to get on their bike over driving to pick up food in their car. To inspire the switch, it has designed a limited-edition ‘bread bowl bike’ that swaps a traditional bicycle basket with... a bread bowl. As part of the stunt, Panera is giving away a select amount of the Bread Bowl Bikes.

Bike

Apple TV+: This Year Earth Changed

Apple TV+ has enlisted the help of Sir David Attenborough this Earth Day. ‘The Year Earth Changed’ is a timely documentary special that takes a fresh new approach to the global lockdown and the uplifting stories that have come out of it. It is accompanied by the second seasons of the documentary series ‘Tiny World’ and ‘Earth At Night In Color’.

Last year Apple released a short film narrated by Meryl Streep. ‘Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth’ followed the story of a seven-year-old boy as he learns about the planet.

Sodastream: Don't just share – care

Sodastream has teamed up with Randi Zuckerberg on its Earth Day campaign, which encourages people to do more than post on social media about their environmental concerns. Instead, Sodastream is encouraging people to get out there and do something about it.

Beyond the ‘Don't Just Share, Care’ campaign, Sodastream has pledged a number of sustainability commitments. It forecasts the avoidance of nearly 78 billion bottles by 2025, which is 11 billion more than last year. It says it is developing sparkling watermakers from recycled or plant-based material for the first time. SodaStream also plans to meet 10% of its global plant’s total energy requirements with solar energy by 2022 – a five-fold increase from 2% in 2020.

Bloom & Wild: Every day is Earth Day

Bloom & Wild is reminding people that ‘Every day is Earth Day’, offering tips on how customers can do their part by putting everything in the right recycling bin and by composting flowers at the end of their vase life.

It is also taking a moment to push its sustainability credentials, underscoring what it is doing to reduce its impact on the environment, including offsetting all its carbon emissions. Plus its letterbox packaging is 100% recyclable, and it sends zero waste to landfill.

Everyday is earth day

Budweiser: Earth Day

Becoming a more sustainable brand is a strategic priority for Budweiser. This year Budweiser made the commitment that each beer brewed globally will be brewed with 100% renewable electricity by 2025.

So it is inspiring other beer brands to follow its lead and celebrating others that are making a difference to protect the planet.

Earth Definition: The New Standard in Streaming

Streaming high definition (HD) videos on your phone can generate approximately four times more emissions into the atmosphere than standard definition.

Determined to raise awareness of this silent issue, Earthday.org and creative agency Hjaltelin Stahl (part of Accenture Interactive) have devised a campaign that shows how video streaming contributes to global carbon emissions. It encourages people to stream using standard, which it calls 'Earth Definition' - a greener alternative to HD.

Fat Tire: Torched Earth Ale

This Earth Day, Fat Tire has released 'Torched Earth Ale' - a beer made with less-than-ideal ingredients, including smoke-tainted water, dandelions and drought-resistant grains.

Why? Because these would be the only ingredients available and affordable to brewers in a climate-ravaged future without aggressive action now to confront the climate crisis.

Rapport: Insure Earth

OOH agency Rapport has introduced the world to 'Insure Earth', a fictitious Earth insurance brand. The stunt is to highlight the need for climate action and hopes to harness climate change advocates to drive conversation and raise climate action awareness.

Respondents are directed to the Insure Earth website – but are greeted with an 'Error 404' message informing them that Insure Earth is not real, and posing the question: “How will you #InsureTheEarth?” People are then asked to share their plans using the hashtag #InsureTheEarth. As well as getting tips on how they can help to prevent climate change from the Insure Earth Instagram and Twitter accounts.

Insurance

Klarna: The Klarna Carbon Footprint Tracker

Klarna has added a feature to its service that gives users access to carbon footprint insights. To do so, it partnered with Doconomy to provide shoppers with an average kgCO2 value for each purchase. The partnership introduces CO2 data at global scale and is made available free of charge in the Klarna app.

Ikea: Small Stories, Great Impact

Featuring Ikea employees and the company’s youngest sustainability advocates, their children, Ikea USA has revealed 'Small Stories, Great Impact'.

The series shows how every voice, no matter how small, is worth engaging to help create a better future. From solar power to geothermal heating and cooling, Ikea co-workers and their cute kiddos detail the many ways that Ikea is not only taking action in its stores and operations, but also in their own lives.

Ecologi: George The Poet - Seeds of Hope

Reforestation and climate action platform Ecologi has worked with the agency Enviral on its Earth Day campaign. Alongside a pledge to plant three million trees, the campaign features the spoken word artist, George The Poet.

It aims to raise awareness around collective action and highlight the role of natural solutions in solving the climate crisis. The powerful video script, which was crafted by George The Poet, reflects the themes of hope and momentum and celebrates the role of nature in safeguarding our home.

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