HP 'prints' trees in environmental push highlighting its forest planting efforts

Ad by W&K cleverly mixes picture and sound to highlight brand's planet-friendly credentials

Published On
Jan 14, 2022

Editor's Pick

As pressure rises for brands to become environmentally conscious, HP has created a campaign to counteract the negative image of one of its products—printers.

Consumers care more now about what brands are doing to be eco-friendly, according to consumer tracking data. HP is aiming to change the image of printing—which is rife with deforestation and pollution—with a campaign that alludes to the company’s tree-planting work.

Conceived after HP late last year announced a partnership of $80 million with World Wildlife Fund, “Printing trees” from Wieden+Kennedy Portland aligns with the brand’s professed aim to become “the world’s most sustainable and just technology company,” as stated by President and CEO Enrique Lores in the company’s 2020 Sustainable Impact Report.

The spot, intended to highlight the company’s commitment in its WWF partnership to planting trees spanning 1 million acres, shows trees and greenery shooting up in a forest to the sounds of pages being printed. It will run online and on TV, including local New York TV broadcast stations, as well as national cable outlets CNBC, Bloomberg and MSNBC.

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The campaign falls in line with the company’s past efforts towards sustainability. This year, HP reached its twentieth year of putting out sustainable impact reports and announced climate action goals ranging from achieving carbon neutrality to keeping zero deforestation for HP paper. For the 2021 Summer Olympics, HP ran a campaign that partly centered around sustainability in an ad focusing on climate change and the company’s work on plastic pollution.

Sustainability was also part of the spot’s production process. The company planted 40 trees in the Amazon to counteract the carbon footprint of production.

Award-winning French directors Megaforce (Burberry's "Festive") makes clever use of time-lapse photography together with sound design to make the trees seem as if they are what's being "printed" as they shoot forth leaves, buds and a habitat for birds and animals.

The music is from British composer, Ben Salisbury, ("Ex Machina"), Emmy-nominated for his nature scores with David Attenborough. (Speaking of Attenborough, the spot is also strongly reminiscent of the style of his new BBC series, The Green Planet, which shows plants growing over time). Cinematography is by Greig Fraser ("Dune," "The Mandalorian," "Vice") working with a post-production team at Kevin. 

The spot ends with a voiceover asking "who would have thought printing could lead to growing trees?" and a reminder that "With HP+ we regenerate forest for every page you print."

 

 

Credits

Date
Jan 14, 2022
Client :
HP
Agency :
Wieden & Kennedy-Portland
ECD :
Eric Baldwin
Creative Director :
Christen Brestrup
Creative Director :
Bertie Scrase
Art Director :
Brad Trost
Copywriter :
Titania Tran
Director of Production :
Matt Hunnicutt
Senior Producer :
Lindsay Reed
Creative Operations :
Christina Kim
Design Producer/Print Producer :
Lis Moran
Designer :
David Chathas
Designer :
Beth Schuenemann
Designer :
Katie Custis
Retoucher :
Greg Radich
Strategic Planning :
Henry Lambert
Strategic Planning :
Lauren Ivory
Media/Comms Planning :
Bobby Souers
Media/Comms Planning :
Karl Collins
Account Team :
Kayla Rochin
Account Team :
Simone Myers
Account Team :
Hannah Hewitt
Account Team :
Vanessa Miller
Account Team :
Daniel Jagaselvan
Business Affairs :
Teresa Lutz
Broadcast Traffic :
Joe Chaath
Copyediting :
Erica Nikolaidis
Production Company :
Iconoclast
Director :
MEGAFORCE
Managing Director :
Charles-Marie Anthonioz
Executive Producer :
Valerie Romer
Line Producer :
Lisa Cowan
Director of Photography :
Greig Fraser
Editorial Company :
Final Cut
Editor :
Joe Guest
Assistant Editor :
Evan Bluestein
Assistant Editor :
Leah Burton
Post Producer :
Taylor S. Rousseau
Post Executive Producer :
Suzy Ramirez
Head of Production :
Ana Orrach
Managing Director :
Justin Burkman
VFX Company :
Kevin
Executive Creative Director / Partner :
Tim Davies
Head of CG :
Mike Dalzell
Senior Executive Producer / Partner :
Sue Troyan
Senior VFX Producer :
Jami Schakel
VFX Coordinator :
Louise Bloomfield
VFX Shoot Supervisor :
Pete Smith
2D Artist :
Ben Smith
2D Artist :
Dag Ivarsoy
2D Artist :
Rob Winfield
CG Artist :
Nico Sugleris
CG Artist :
Kathryn Dougan
CG Artist :
Kerry Graham
CG Artist :
Matt Longwell
CG Artist :
Carl Harders
CG Artist :
Dan Santoni
CG Artist :
Edwin Chiu
CG Artist :
Igor Stefanovic
CG Artist :
Michael Edland
CG Artist :
Tom Allen
CG Artist :
Shiv Dholakia
Colorist :
Emiliano Serantoni
Talent :
Angela Grovey
Music Company :
Walker
Senior Executive Producer / Founder :
Sara Matarazzo
Executive Producer :
Stephanie Pigott
Senior Producer :
Danielle Soury
Business Affairs Manager :
Deanna Romine
Composer :
Ben Salisbury
Composer :
Suvi-Eeva Äikäs
Sound Designer :
Sam Ashwell
Mix Company :
750mph
Audio Mixer :
Sam Ashwell
Executive Producer :
Martin Critchley

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