Some people feel that advertising is garbage. London based Curb advertises with garbage. And sea water. And snow.

Calling themselves “The Natural Media Company,” Curb create advertising based on natural elements, the most recent being for the London Aquarium utilizing “sea tagging,” which is using sea water and a stencil to create temporary ads on the sidewalk. Sea water evaporates more slowly then water, but being a completely natural substance, no permit is needed to do it.

Another water based innovation is what they call H2Show, where a waterfall is somehow able to be manipulated to display words, logos, and images, and even accept text messages to display different words.

Crop carving, once the province of aliens and pranksters, is now being put to use in a smart way, as in their Shredded Wheat logo carved out of, yes, a wheat field.

In the clearest example of green marketing I’ve heard of,

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they do snow tagging, which as it sounds is making designs in the snow, which leaves no trace once gone, and I would imagine while it’s there would be quite noticeable and memorable. Especially if it were for a snow/sport related brand.

Not some gimmick division of a larger agency, Curb “…are committed to only ever using natural earth elements in our media portfolio and providing a range of media which are not only sustainable and effective but can also generate substantial return on investment for our clients.”

In a world where things continue to speed up and the window of opportunity to making an impression on consumers is increasingly small, utilizing tactics such as Curb’s is both more likely to have a bigger impact, and a smaller (or nonexistent) footprint when it’s done. Beyond the initial impression it makes on those there, the media coverage it likely generates (like this for example) extends the value of the work.

Readers: What other innovative sustainability minded marketing are you seeing out there?

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