
Thursday Thinky: Government, Taxes, & Beers
Events from last week made me think of government.
Our four offices participated in the Climate Strike to ask our government to act on Climate Change. If you look at the news, the US elections are already making all the headlines. Abroad, Israelis struggle to form a government. And, the United Nations are currently holding their general assembly.
So naturally, we decided to put our Thinky spotlight on governments. We took a look at three campaigns, in Germany, London, and Hong Kong, to highlight the good, the bad, and the ugly of governments’ use of advertising. And to thank you for indulging our administration fix, we also have three great campaigns from Burger King, Busch & Venmo, and a masterpiece from The Female Company to bring awareness on the unfair tax on tampons in Germany (and everywhere).
See you in October!
Government Tackling Big Issues
Germany’s Transport Ministry – A bike safety campaign that went too far? (Bicycling.com)
Alcohol and automotive brands have pretty much lived the “sex sells” mantra since the beginning of time. But in the current cultural climate, should a bike safety campaign COMING FROM A MINISTRY have stepped into that realm? On one hand, it gets your attention. On the other hand… I can’t believe that a government would even entertain such an idea. In a way, I like that they were bold and went for it. But there was NO way there were going to get away with it.
Central Office of Public Interest – New anti-pollution tool rates air toxicity levels in London (Campaign Live)
Hong Kong Asked 8 Global PR Firms To Help Rebrand Its Image After Months Of Protests. Everyone Said No (BuzzFeed News)
Brands That Caught Our Eye
The Female Company – Using tampons to outsmart Germany’s “pink tax” system (Scholz & Friends)
Burger King – BK meltdown: recycling plastic kids’ meal crap into more useful things (The Drum)
Busch + Venmo – A fan’s plea for beer money turns into 100K for a children’s hospital (CNN)
*UPDATE 9/27/19: There were unfortunate developments to this campaign. As reported by the Washington Post, a journalist from the Des Moins Register who was working on a profile of Carson King, the sign holder, dug up offensive tweets that King had shared 8 years ago, when he was 16 years old. King has apologized for the tweets but has since lost his partnership with Busch. The journalist, who also shared offensive tweets in the past, has since been let go by the paper. To sum it up, the Register, who approved the publication of King’s profile, investigated its journalist for investigating someone else, and then fired him for doing the same thing he did.
This is a very convoluted situation that raised the issue of “cancel culture” for us. If it may make sense to go back in people’s past in some cases, how is it warranted here? How are tweets that old relevant when it comes to King’s gesture? Despite the racist undertone of the tweets, it should not tarnish his initiative of donating money to a children’s hospital. These are two separate topics. One is unforgettable, the other is honorable, but they are not linked to each other. And, it does not change our opinion on what King did with the money raised.
Bonus: Cause Marketing Webinars
Media Cause – Cause Marketing, what it is, what it’s not, and how to get it right (Part 1 of 4)
That’s it for today’s Thinky. See you next week!
PS: If any of the above made your wheel spin, we’d love to hear your thoughts–get in touch with us!
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