Design: Pentagram | Creative direction: Greenpeace UK
As part of our Palm Oil campaign, we worked with agency Pentagram to develop a brand-jam concept and applications targeting Oreo: the world's top selling cookie brand using palm oil from forest destroyers.
Hijacking Oreo’s identity, brand strengths and aesthetics we exposed their role in Indonesian deforestation, which is having devastating impacts for communities, wildlife and the planet; and supported people all over the world to take action, speaking out against this company.
The identity and materials were developed for international use. The campaign would be run in many countries with different cultures and languages. It also needed to be understood as a continuation of an existing campaign that had its own brand identity and name: “Drop Dirty Palm Oil”.
One of the main challenges of this creative process was to arrive at a concept that both embodied the fun, ‘wonder-filled’ and digitally savvy nature of the brand, whilst pointing to the very serious and stark reality of the issue.
Rainforest destruction for palm oil is a disaster for people, wildlife and our planet and these three interconnected impacts became central to the concept.
Subverting Oreo’s own brand identity, their emphasis on flavours and the discovery of what they call a ‘wonder-filled’ world, our final concept centered on the reveal of the true Oreo flavours: Deforestation, Forest Fires and Endangered Orangutans.
Indonesian Rainforests are the lungs of the Earth and vital in regulating the climate. In fact, they are our strongest defence against climate change. Indonesia has lost 24 million hectares of rainforest between 1990 and 2015, an area almost the size of the UK.
Palm oil companies are stealing land from local communities, destroying their homes and clearing farms that have been in their families for generations. Companies even start fires to clear land, producing a toxic haze that threatens the health of millions across Southeast Asia.
Indonesian Rainforests are also home to 10 to 15 percent of all known species of plants, birds and mammals. Half the orangutan population has been wiped out in just 16 years and these majestic creatures are on the brink of extinction.
The campaign was rolled out in numerous countries around the world where people took action online and offline, including in key markets for Oreo such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, USA, UK, France, Italy, The Netherlands and Germany.
Another Oreo tactic we hijacked was the use of ‘brand activations’. We flipped their 'Oreo vault' and turned it into a ‘door of destruction’. An interactive engagement piece where the public was invited to discover the destruction inside Oreo, and to speak out against their use of dirty palm oil. We also designed stickers that could be pasted onto the product, and using the style guide, many Greenpeace offices adapted them and also designed their own additional materials like banners, badges, etc. Greenpeace Indonesia even produced an Oreo vending machine.
^ Greenpeace Indonesia
^ Greenpeace France
^ Greenpeace Italy
Greenpeace Taiwan and Greenpeace Malaysia
Greenpeace teams around the world also conducted non-violent direct actions targeting Mondelez (Oreo’s parent company) and Wilmar (the largest palm oil company on the planet, that Mondelez buys a lot of their dirty palm oil from).
Action at sea blocking a palm oil shipment from Wilmar (who sells dirty palm oil to Mondelez - Oreo's parent company)
Actions outside headquarters of Mondelez in the US, UK and the Netherlands
Oreo has had to respond to the campaign and public pressure, claiming it has a "goal to be 100% sustainable".
The campaign continues until they drop dirty palm oil.
