5 Initiative-Driven World Environment Day Commercials That Inspired Real Change

Ever since we began covering World Environment Day commercials over the last month, we have seen some of the best adverts ranging from impactful to downright funny. But while these included ads that listed down what consumers could do to protect the environment, brands need to be at the forefront to make a real dent in environmental pollution. While individual efforts are highly appreciated, they are no match to the impact created by initiatives undertaken by brands to promote environmental sustainability owing to their wider reach.

So, here we are with 5 World Environment Day commercials that not just urged consumers to do their bid, but also gave them a sneak peek into their efforts towards creating a greener and cleaner earth. Let’s take a look.

1. HDFC Bank: Engines Off (2022)

Carbon emissions from vehicles are a major contributor to air pollution. But while the modern lifestyle necessitates the use of vehicles, leaving engines running even while waiting in traffic can surely be stopped. The HDFC Bank launched a high-decibel public awareness campaign #EnginesOff with an objective of reducing air pollution. 

The ad showcased HDFC Bank’s initiative of rolling out a short street play at over 140 busy traffic junctions in 40+ cities across India. The ad, through the street play, urged motorists idling their vehicles at busy traffic intersections to switch off their engines while they waited for the signal to turn green.

The message was clear- turn off the engine until the signal turns green or it’s going to be all red in the future!

2. Emirates: How to Wash an A380 Without Water (2017)

Water wastage is a massive challenge to environmental sustainability. As such, various experts have been advising vehicle owners to drywash their vehicles. However, most vehicle owners remain circumspect about its efficacy. Hopefully, this advert by the UAE flag carrier Emirates will convince you.

In this 60-second spot, Emirates showcased its environmentally friendly aircraft cleaning technique that has enabled the airline to save millions of litres of water every year. Since early 2016 Emirates has been using an aircraft 'drywash' technique to clean its fleet of over 250 aircraft. As indicated by the name, little or no water is involved in cleaning the aircraft, which is in contrast to conventional methods of aircraft cleaning which typically use thousands of litres of water per wash.

Why use a flood when a cloth will do?

3. Mahindra Group: Cut The Crap (2020)

Education for rural children remains a massive challenge in underdeveloped countries like India. The lack of basic infrastructure means that they often remain deprived of fundamental things like a desk, which leads to poor posture and subsequent health problems.

However, this moving advert shows that a little innovation can go a long way in improving the lives of the not-so-fortunate. The ad showcases how Ennoble Social Innovations partnered with Mahindra Susten to create The Yelo Green Bag to help make the lives of rural children better. Made from upcycled scrap, the Yelo Green school bag aims to plug some of the gaps in the educational journey of underprivileged children.

Empowering underprivileged children in their educational pursuits while protecting the environment by utilizing upcycled scrap– that’s how you kill two birds with one stone! Great job Mahindra and Ennoble!

4. Budweiser: Choose Earth (2021)

Sustainability must be at the core of every brand’s business operations to protect the earth. This 2021 Budweiser ad raises a toast to a renewable future for the earth.

The ad features an impactful message, which when read top-down projects a rather gloomy picture. However, when read bottom-up, it starts making much more sense and instills a sense of hope within the readers. Also, the ad includes Budweiser’s efforts toward environmental sustainability, which saw it brewing 13 million Budweisers with 100% renewable electricity between 2016-21. Also, it shows how the brand is slowly moving toward attaining its goal of brewing every Budweiser renewably by 2025.

The beer brand has already achieved 100% renewable electricity for all its European breweries. Now that’s something, isn’t it? Good going, lads!

5. Hero MotoCorp: Only One Earth

Like all the other commercials above, this ad by Indian bike manufacturer Hero MotoCorp also highlights everything that the company has been doing to make the earth more livable.

From planting 2.38 million trees and conserving 178 million litres of water to setting up garden factories for green manufacturing and installing almost 20,000 solar street lights in over 220 villages, Hero has done it all. Why? Because there’s only one earth and each one of us must play our part in protecting it!

Bonus

And here’s a special one for you. Although not a World Environment Day commercial, this Apple advert is my favorite amongst all the ads covered so far in this series.

This ad featuring Apple CEO Tim Cook and Octavia Spencer gives the audience a rundown of what the tech giant has been doing to reduce its carbon footprint. The ad is funny, witty, and includes some classic retorts from Spencer to Cook and his colleagues’ claims of reducing the company’s footprint.

Honestly, there’s no good way to talk about the world’s largest company and its massive environmental footprint. And many of you might see the ad as a pure marketing gimmick. After all, the company can do a lot more like making iPhones more repairable and even upgradable. But if one were to look at this advert from an entirely marketing standpoint, they would be left mighty impressed!

Wrapping Up

And that’s a wrap of some of the best initiative-driven World Environment Day commercials. Unlike many ad campaigns, the brands covered above have demonstrated their commitment to environmental sustainability by reducing carbon emissions and adopting environmentally friendly methods to run their operations. If a handful of other major organizations decide to follow suit, the world air around us will be more breathable!

We’ll be back with more wonderful ads for you. Till then, stay tuned!