NEWS RELEASE
Finalists for EthicMark® Advertising Award 2012
Announcement at KnowPhest Festival and Conference in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA — October 13, 2012 – Patagonia and TOMS shoes are the two finalists in the for-profit category for the 2012 EthicMark® Award for advertising that “uplifts the human spirit and society.” Ten Thousand Villages and the Access Initiative at the World Resources Institute are the two finalists in the nonprofit category.
Hazel Henderson, founder of the EthicMark® Award, and Madeleine Austin, Vice President of the World Business Academy, announced the finalists today at KnowPhest, a 3-day festival and conference in Los Angeles, October 12-14.
Founded in 2004, the annual EthicMark® Award is co-sponsored by Ethical Markets Media, LLC, the World Business Academy, and the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business Marketing Department.
“Don’t Buy This Jacket,” Patagonia’s November 25, 2011 newspaper ad in The New York Times on Black Friday, the day that launches the holiday retail season, won Patagonia a place as a finalist. The ad urged people to “Reduce, Repair, Reuse, Recycle” and said, “Black Friday and the culture of consumption it reflects puts the economy of natural systems that support all life firmly in the red.” Academy President Rinaldo Brutoco said, “Not many retailers urge people not to buy what they don’t need. We commend Patagonia for its determination to create a sustainable world where we eliminate excess consumption.”
TOMS was voted a finalist for its video, “One Day without Shoes 2012 Trailer,” which builds on its business model of donating one pair of shoes for each pair sold. “One Day without Shoes” encourages people to go barefoot for a day to raise awareness about the less fortunate.
Ten Thousand Villages, a company that helps artisans around the world earn a fair income “by bringing their products and stories to our markets through long-term fair trading relationships,” was voted a finalist for its video, “World Fair Trade Day 2011.” The video highlighted the power of fair trade to change the world for the better.
The Access Initiative (TAI) was named a finalist for its video, “Sunita,” which teaches the value of access to information through a story about a poor woman who faces the loss of her home and livelihood. “We are grateful to the organizers of the EthicMark® Award for recognizing this short video which shows the impact one person’s story can have in raising awareness and changing the world,” said Lalanath de Silva, director of the Access Initiative at the World Resources Institute. “Millions of women have stories like Sunita’s, and we need to start incorporating their voices into our planning and decision making if we are going to live in a more sustainable and equitable world.”
Hazel Henderson said, “Advertising drives our mass media globally, playing a huge role in either educating and informing people to exercise free choice and democracy…or in mis-educating and mis-informing! EthicMark® Awards honor the best and most responsible—raising the ethical bar worldwide. We are thrilled that so many wonderful campaigns are nominees and we salute our 2012 Finalists here at KnowPhest!”
MEDIA CONTACTS
Madeleine Austin, World Business Academy, 805-892-4600 or 805-570-9793; madeleine[at]worldbusiness.org
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