April 25, 2002 WILD Awards Reward Socially and Environmentally Responsible Advertising     by William Baue The Third Annual WILD Awards recognized companies, ad agencies, and individuals that support wild animals and nature in their marketing. SocialFunds.com -- The Wild Foundation, in association with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), celebrated Earth Day with the third annual Wild Awards ceremony at the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel in New York City. The awards honor “advertising with integrity for nature,” rewarding corporations and ad agencies whose marketing supports the environment and wild animals by featuring wilderness imagery. The awards were founded on the premise that, just as advertisers compensate actors and celebrities for their ad work, so too should they “give back” to the natural world when it is featured in ads. "Corporate marketers and their ad agencies have intrinsic value in the cultural influence they wield," said Sali Randel, Founder of the WILD Awards. "Connecting the use of wild animals and pristine nature with social responsibility creates a significant cultural and environmentally proactive business standard." The WILD Awards screen submissions to verify that companies’ business practices actually protect and sustain wild nature in ways that coincide with the environmentally-friendly messages of their advertisements. Campaigns thus represent transparent communications of companies’ real social and environmental commitments. Many companies have been adopting corporate social responsibility (CSR) without necessarily communicating this commitment in their marketing. The WILD Awards represent one of the few venues that encourage companies to highlight their CSR initiatives by rewarding socially and environmentally responsible advertising. “When communications are used to make a difference, to improve the world, or to prove that the pen truly IS mightier than the sword, and someone not only notices but celebrates the use, I feel it provides incentive for others to try and do the same,” said Larry Kopald, chair of Los Angeles-based Earth Communications Office (ECO). Mr. Kopald won the Joseph R. Daly Award for Excellence in Communication for Nature in acknowledgment of his skill at distilling complex environmental issues into comprehensible messages. The WILD Awards recognized advertising excellence at three geographic levels. Italy-based Delverde Pasta, along with its ad agency Roncaglia & Wijkander, received the International Excellence Award for using images of pandas in ads. Washington-based Weyerhaeuser (ticker: WY) and its Los Angeles-based agency Dailey & Associates won the National Excellence Award for its print and broadcast campaign anchored by the tagline, “The Future is Growing.” The Regional Excellence Award went to Boulder-based natural foods supermarket chain Whole Foods Market (WFMI), which partnered with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) on the “Fish for Our Future” campaign to promote sales of certified sustainable Wild Alaskan Salmon. The Bellingham, Washington-based Seafood Producers Cooperative donated the MSC-certified salmon served as the dinner’s entrée, a gesture that demonstrated the environmental consciousness championed by the Whole Foods campaign. "From the very beginning, Whole Foods Market has applauded the MSC for taking action to reward fisheries that follow sustainable seafood management practices," said Margaret Wittenberg, Whole Foods’ vice president for governmental and public affairs. "As a retailer passionate about sustainability, we were proud to partner with the MSC to launch the educational awareness campaign nationwide about the overfishing issue and about how individual consumers can help make a difference by looking for the best environmental choices when shopping." Patagonia won the Lifetime Achievement Award for its longstanding tradition of incorporating images of wild nature into its catalogs. The Ventura, California-based outdoor apparel retailer has also donated one percent of sales, or ten percent of pre-tax profits, whichever is greater, to help protect and restore the environment. Author and photographer Robert B. Haas, founder and chair of the Dallas-based investment firm Haas Wheat & Partners, received Special Recognition for Business and Personal Commitment to Nature, for his philanthropic work. © SRI World Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Order reprints | Send it to a friend | Print it | Save it Top