On Thursday morning, residents of New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia will awake to find their cities have been targeted with a new, cutting edge form of marketing: GreenGraffiti. Not only that, but a scavenger hunt will ensue, and those that spot these GreenGraffiti logos can win a free pizza.
Domino’s Pizza, a client of mine, is behind this innovative new campaign. GreenGraffiti is a tactic/company that began in Europe in 2006 and Domino’s is one of the first companies to use GreenGraffiti logos in America. Below is a leaked image of the first of these logos to appear on a sidewalk in a U.S. city. But it doesn’t stop with this one: 220 more of these Domino’s “American Legends” logo’s will soon be placed around New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
There is a cool twist to this campaign. As I mentioned, in addition to placing these logos in three different cities, Domino’s has created a bit of a scavenger hunt for their customers. According to Domino’s:
The first 250 people to email [email protected] and submit a photo of them with a Green Graffiti® sidewalk Domino’s logo will receive a $15 Domino’s gift card, good for a Domino’s American Legends pizza.
Click HERE for full details on the contest/giveaway.
For those of you wondering how the logos like the one above get made, the GreenGraffiti website explains:
With the help of a template and a high pressure water sprayer an advertising message is cleaned out of the dirt. The result is a high impact message and a cleaner street.
Unlike traditional advertising, no trees will be killed, paper printed or ink used. GreenGraffiti is not just carbon neutral, they are actually carbon NEGATIVE, compensating for 150% of their carbon footprint. They even invest in a water harvesting project for each liter of water they use.
Pretty cool marketing tactic huh? What do people think of this idea?
Update: Domino’s has uploaded some video of the GreenGraffiti teams putting the logos in place:
14 responses so far ↓
1 Brian // Jul 8, 2009 at 10:11 pm
They should put them all over the sidewalks in front of Pizza Huts.
2 Bear Silber // Jul 8, 2009 at 10:39 pm
@Brian – Haha, that’s great. Although people may be hungry after searching them out and opt for what’s at their feet once they’re done.
I think this is an attempt to be “hip” but I do applaud their effort. I think the idea of a scavenger hunt is better the whole “green graffiti” schtick.
3 Steve Cerruti // Jul 9, 2009 at 12:40 am
Southern California is in a level 2 drought emergency. In my city washing paved surfaces with water is illegal.
Each impression uses 10 liters of water. GreenGraffiti offsets this water use with rainwater collection programs in Brazil.
In my opinion this is not green advertising when applied in Southern California.
4 TurnerJoy // Jul 9, 2009 at 2:07 am
Because Water is a limitless resource that is not needed for life to survive.
5 Jesse Thomas // Jul 9, 2009 at 9:43 am
@steve great point. “this is not green advertising when applied in Southern California.”
In general this is not a new campaign by any stretch of the imagination. Their use of social media and requesting users to find and capture the installations is different. I like it.
6 alex // Jul 9, 2009 at 12:03 pm
this “carbon neutral/negative” claim is absolute bs! how are the pressure washers powered? most likely gas. if they are electric, where is that power from? most likely the grid. how do these people get around town? most likely a gas powered vehicle. what is the power washer made out of? materials derived from fossil fuels.
im sick & tired of companies jumping on the “green” marketing bandwagon…campaigns like this undermine the consumer’s intelligence and are totally misleading. EVERYTHING WE DO IN SOME WAY SHAPE OR FORM USES CARBON! its part of being an industrialized society. get over it.
7 Steve Cerruti // Jul 9, 2009 at 12:35 pm
@alex They do buy carbon offsets presumably to counter those same carbon producing activities, but your main point is valid.
Assuming carbon offsets are a valid idea, an activity isn’t green just because it doesn’t pollute any more than not doing the activity in the first place. An activity is Green when it is better for the environment in a tangible way than the alternative.
GreenGraffiti may actually be ‘green’ in some markets. It is definitely not green in Los Angeles or anywhere else in Southern California.
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9 John Apesos // Jul 9, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Comparative information regarding paper:
1 A4 piece of paper requires 8 liters of water
( assuming it is from virgin forests ) to produce
It would be interesting to learn how many liters of water this form of media uses — Since they compensation programs are coming into play…
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