Greenpeace goes outdoor to urge tea companies to make'chai' pesticide-free

Greenpeace India launched a'Clean Chai'outdoor campaign in the Bandra reclamation area in Mumbai. The campaign was triggered by the discovery of pesticide residue in tea samples of all the seven major producers of tea.  The'Clean Chai' campaign has been executed on seven hoardings, all in a series. Each hoarding mentions one of the major tea producers in the country and is followed by the demand made by Greenpeace for'Clean Chai.

The hoarding has simple and direct message "Clean Chai”. The choice of a busy location ensured that message reaches out to the target audience and makes them aware about what they consume along with their tea. The choice of using outdoor media primarily was to cause awareness in a space generally used by the same companies.  This'Drive of Shame' also has Greenpeace volunteers staying put on top of the hoarding spaces and staying there till all seven companies commit to providing India with'clean chai'.

HUL was quick to respond to the campaign. Hence, in response to the proactive communication and steps taken by HUL, Greenpeace changed the hoarding targeting HUL from'clean chai' now to'cleaning chai now', thereby acknowledging the steps taken by the FMCG giant and also showcasing the first victory for their campaign.

While talking about the overall campaign, Sachin Singh, Marketing Manager forGreenpeace, said, "The hoardings are not so much for the people as they are for the tea companies. This is their space and in that space we want to begin a dialogue with these companies. This is to initiate dialogue and ensure results. Already the tea companies have started reaching out and are willing to make the commitment of pesticide free farming. In Andhra Pradesh 38 lakh hectares have become pesticide free.  As far as clean chai is concerned, Hindustan Unilever is already taking steps to make a commitment to us about giving us a clean chai”.

Greenpeace is global NGO working to protect the environment for the last 40 years.