Wal-Mart in 'Earth Month' Campaign

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 4/21/2008 12:00:00 AM

Bentonville, Ark. —

"Everything Earth-Friendly. Simple Choices. Big Difference." is the clarion call by leviathan retailer Wal-Mart in its Earth Month merchandising and marketing campaign. Earth Month ad activity includes a series of seven national TV ads, plus radio and online components and a 16-page insert to run in various consumer magazines.

The $375 billion retailer, increasingly keen to reduce its environmental footprint, is promoting a range of products from alternate-fiber apparel to rubber mulch. Factors such as energy conservation, waste reduction, and organics feature in the selection of about 50 products in-store and 500 products offered online at walmart.com/earth.

The site details the energy offsets and other green initiatives taken by manufacturers of a range of merchandise, most showing the potential multiplier effect of "200 million Wal-Mart shoppers" on the eco-friendly factors.

Also online, kids are encouraged to pick up a free seed card for easy planting of wildflowers, in a Nickelodeon-sponsored promotion.

Stephen Quinn, chief marketing officer, lauded suppliers for having "stepped up to take environmental sustainability mainstream and educate shoppers in a big way about products that can help them save money, live better and help our planet."

Wal-Mart planned to give away one million custom-made reusable shopping bags on Saturday, April 19. The company said it generally sells reusable shopping bags made from recycled materials for $1.

"Wal-Mart is uniquely positioned to make sustainable choices a real option for hundreds of millions of Americans — not just the few who until now could afford to choose them," said Matt Kistler, svp of sustainability at Wal-Mart.