Stance
Environmentalist practices are very essential when it comes to preserving the planet and maintaining it for future generations. A company that emphasizes the importance of environmentalism is Ben & Jerry’s. Although the brand produces several types of delicious ice cream for its customers, it uses its platform to also educate its audience on the world’s pressing issues, one of them being climate change. Climate change is a topic that can lose the interest of many, so their ability to push it to the forefront is recognized. In collaborating with Ben & Jerry’s, I worked to help convey this message even more through three different graphical elements and added my own twist to it.
Element 1: Patterns are very eye-catching. They immediately attract a viewer’s attention and prompt them to look at the design as a whole. In the background of this poster, there are several different pastel-colored ice cream scoops to tie in what Ben & Jerry’s produces. But, in the foreground, there is a message, which is what the viewer notices immediately after looking at the vibrant pattern. The first sentence, “We’re all in this together”, incorporates all of the different-colored ice cream scoops in the background. The second sentence, “Fight against climate change now”, gives the audience a call to action. While the colorful background draws the viewer to appreciate the aesthetic of the poster, the message outlines the important duty that the viewer must take on, all while using the ice cream scoops as a metaphor for teamwork.
Element 2: To work with Ben & Jerry’s in this mission of marketing climate justice to a wider audience, I came up with the idea to adapt a popular form of media in order to capture the attention of a different demographic — music fans. Particularly, those that listen to or are familiar with Drake, one of the biggest artists of the past decade. While many do not turn their attention towards climate justice, they do tune in when Drake puts out a new album. Drake’s most recent project, Certified Lover Boy, not only trended due to the sound, but also because of its unique cover. This cover has been manipulated by many different brands to attract the tens of millions of people that are aware of the album. Even if one did not listen to the music, one would still typically be familiar with the cover. I used this trend to my advantage to convey practices of environmentalism while also marketing Ben & Jerry’s message. This was done by creating fictional pints of ice cream with flavors that pertained to methods that reduce a person’s carbon footprint. Rather than Certified Lover Boy, it is Certified Nature-Lover. The pints follow a 4x3 grid layout. This design is a fun way to look at combatting climate change and being more environmentally-aware.
- The pints all express environmental practices:
- Buy Local: Buying locally reduces food waste.
- Ingredients: maple syrup, sliced hazelnuts, brown sugar
- Explanation: These ingredients are popular in Vermont, where Ben & Jerry’s was founded.
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: These three practices reduce waste and promote repurposing items.
- Ingredients: coffee and oat milk
- Explanation: These ingredients can be recycled in practices such as planting.
- More Vegetables, Less Meat: You limit the release of greenhouse gases when you consume plant-based foods rather than meat.
- Ingredients: carrot cake, sweet potato, butternut squash
- Explanation: These are all vegetables with flavors that go together.
- No Waste: Limit waste to reduce your carbon footprint.
- Ingredients: chocolate and potato chips
- Explanation: Chocolate and potato chips don’t seem like they go together, but many would say that they do. Instead of throwing out separate flavors that you may not like, combine them and see what happens!
- Fight Climate Change: Fighting climate change prevents these certain flavors from dying out.
- Ingredients: Peanut butter, oats, chocolate chips
- Explanation: Peanuts, oats, and chocolate are all at risk of dying out due to climate change, according to Ben & Jerry’s
- Drive Electric: Driving electric cars rather than cars that utilize gas limits fossil fuel usage.
- Ingredients: citrus fruits, sour patch kids
- Explanation: Electricity closely mirrors the feeling that one gets when tasting sour flavors.
- Lights Off: Reducing light usage limits the amount of electricity used.
- Ingredients: devil’s food cake, dark chocolate, Oreos
- Explanation: These ingredients all mimic the darkness of the lights being out.
- Save the Arctic: Fight climate change to prevent the melting of the Earth’s coldest regions and the endangerment of the animals that inhabit it.
- Ingredients: liquid nitrogen ice cream, white chocolate, Oreos
- Explanation: Liquid nitrogen is very cold, which reflects Earth’s cold regions. White chocolate and Oreos pair well aesthetically with these cold regions.
- Walk More: Walking rather than driving reduces the usage of fossil fuels.
- Ingredients: bananas, mangos, pineapples, electrolytes
- Explanation: These fruits are beneficial when it comes to working out. Electrolytes help you stay hydrated.
- Green Living: The idea of eco-friendly living.
- Ingredients: matcha and vanilla
- Explanation: Matcha is green, which ties in “green living”. Vanilla pairs well with matcha.
- Tree Hugger: This is a term used to describe people that are very environmentally-conscious.
- Ingredients: apples, caramel, cinnamon, ginger
- Explanation: Apples come from trees. Caramel, cinnamon, and ginger pair well with apples.
- Plant Something: Planting is good for the environment because it helps support the sustenance of life.
- Ingredients: peanut butter, almonds, cashews
- Explanation: peanuts, almonds, and cashews are all nuts that come from plants.
Element 3: This graphic focuses on one fictional pint that I created. It is called the “Lights Off” ice cream flavor, which is meant to portray the message of decreasing light usage in order to reduce electricity consumption. This flavor includes devil’s food cake, dark chocolate, and Oreos to mimic the darkness in an absence of light. The graphic shows a light bulb that casts a shadow on the pint of ice cream, further emphasizing the idea of the darkness.
