Markets

Greenpeace Takes on That Icon of Environmental Destruction: Barbie

By Constantine von Hoffman

Updated on: June 11, 2011 / 11:19 AM EDT / MoneyWatch

UPDATE: Mattel has surrendered to Greenpeace in what may be the fastest campaign since the last time the Germans invaded Belgium. And, as I predicted, mostly because they didn't have a funny video response. Go here for details.
What do Nestle (NSRGY), McDonald's (MCD), Burger King, Disney (DIS), Hasbro (HAS), and Lego have in common? They rely on the goodwill of kids and parents and have all been targeted by Greenpeace. Now the activists have set their sites on none other than Barbie and her parent Mattel (MAT).

Greenpeace says the choice of companies is coincidental, but it can't hurt that it is so easy to scare the companies' core constituency.

While Mattel is the current object of Greenpeace's campaign, the group really wants to go after an indirect target, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP). Greenpeace claims that Singapore-based APP, one of the world's largest producers of wood products, has leveled vast swaths of rain forest over the last two decades. (Remember when it was called jungle? Whatever happened to jungles?)

APP says these charges are totally unsubstantiated. "APP is one of the few companies in Southeast Asia, which has been working hard to promote the production of this type of recycled carton box packaging," said Aida Greenbury, the company's sustainability chief. "We are happy to share the scientific analysis of our packaging materials with anyone who wants to review it."

Unfortunately for APP, that argument is hard to put into a cute video. And that is key here. Whichever side is right, this issue is unlikely to be decided by mere facts.

Why? There is nothing that upsets people quite like bad things happening to charismatic megafauna (furry animals with big eyes), and Greenpeace has exploited that for all it's worth. The Nestle campaign featured a video of an office worker opening a Kit Kat, and spewing blood as he bit on an orangutan finger. It got a 1 million views in two weeks. Nestle was then swamped with phone calls, letters (Do people still send those? Aren't they made out of paper?), and tens of thousands of angry messages on Facebook.

Barbie as serial killer
When something works you don't change it, so Mattel is being hit with a video in which an animated Ken doll is spattered with blood while watching footage of Barbie slaughtering orangutans and tigers. A narrator asks: "Did you ever think of Barbie as a serial killer?"

Greenpeace may have a particular non-endangered species bone to pick with Mattel. The company has been accused of greenwashing with its Barbie BCause line of clothes and accessories. The company pitched the line as environmentally friendly because it was made out of cloth used to make Barbie clothes. (No, that doesn't make sense to me, either.) Also, this year's Architecture Barbie is running a contest with the American Institute of Architects to have someone design her a green Dream House.

The first stage of Greenpeace's "Murderer Barbie" PR blitz involved hanging a giant banner at Mattel's headquarters. The banner had a frowning Ken with the message: "Barbie, it's over. I don't date girls that are into deforestation." (Note to Greenpeace: Girls are people, not things, and therefore it should read "girls who" and not "girls that." Then again, this is Barbie, so never mind.)

Greenpeace may already have the toughest part of the campaign behind it. While it may be difficult to get a huge corporation to change how it does business, it has to be even harder to get a member of Greenpeace to wear synthetic fabrics. Yet one did just that, playing Barbie while driving a cute pink front-loader. She was later arrested by police, much to everyone's relief.

Photo: Greenpeace USA 2011
Related: