Zero waste solid skincare brand SBTRCT has launched its first brand campaign urging consumers to ‘Face Facts’ and become aware of the ‘Ugly Side of Beauty’.
Launched to coincide with Earth Day in April, the campaign – which was amplified through social content, PR, influencer marketing and CRM – featured the brand’s own solid skincare products as placards to illustrate the beauty industry’s impact on the environment and called on consumers to swap one of their personal care products to a solid or plastic-free alternative.
As well as shining a light on the 120 billion units of packaging – much of which is plastic – which are produced annually by the global beauty industry and the fact that 91% of plastic is not recycled, the campaign also highlighted the issue of greenwashing.
We do not have the recycling infrastructure for the ‘circular economy’ sold to the conscious consumer
“Brands are deceiving the customer with a greenwashing message around recycling,” explains brand founder Ben Grace. “We do not have the recycling infrastructure for the ‘circular economy’ sold to the conscious consumer, with studies demonstrating that, in the UK alone, less than 10% of our ‘recycling’ is actually being recycled.
“Research estimates that 171 trillion pieces of plastic are floating in the world’s oceans4 – a figure that will quadruple by 2040 if we don’t change behaviours. The beauty industry is a major contributor to this and has been too slow to respond. Consumers are starting to question their purchasing choices and the claims being sold to them and, with exceptional expert alternatives now available, habits are changing and brands who don’t respond will rightly be left behind.”
The campaign also urged consumers to sign the Earth Day petition for a global plastics treaty, calling on governments to do more, more quickly, to reduce plastic.
