Green Ad Analysis

Caribou Coffee to be 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified

You can also find this page at:
http://www.cariboucoffee.com/page/1/r-alliance.jsp

With the world market being so competitive, companies turn to advertising to help bring their products forward into the light. Sometimes these products and ideas that are brought forward are wonderful and work the way they claim they do. Other times, these products and ideas may seem “better,” but truthfully, it is all a play with words, which is also known as "greenwashing," with hopes that the consumer will not do any research to find the truth.

The main goal of this ad analysis is to discover whether or not the green ad/e-mail, Caribou Coffee with the emphasis on being 100% Rainforest Alliance certified, is truthfully as great of a product/company as they claim they are. Different advertising tactics such as: imagery, symbols, target audience, language, and information will be discussed.

Because I am on the Caribou Coffee mailing list, whenever they have deals or something new happening, an email gets automatically sent to me. Last week, I received an email from Caribou Coffee with the subject line titled “Caribou Coffee is Committed to 100% Rainforest Alliance Certification.” Normally, I delete their emails right away because I assume the email is telling me about a promotion they have going on, but this one caught my attention. The words “100% Rainforest Alliance Certification” caught my eye. The number “100%” is very dramatic here, because this percentage is very hard to achieve and completely absolute. The next most attention grabbing words for me was “rainforest” and "certification." As soon as these terms turned up, I knew it had to do with the environment and being the eco-conscious person that I am, I had to read this e-mail to find out what changes were coming.

When the email opens up, it is completely colorful. There are soft and nature colors such as: tan, brown, green, blue, and white. There are no colors such as gold, copper, or silver, which would likely illustrate industrialization. At the top, in big green and bold letters states, “All of our coffee will be 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified by the end of 2011.” Right below that is a brief description about Caribou Coffee’s plan to become 100% Rainforest Alliance certified and the year they plan to achieve this goal by. The paragraph below that acknowledges the quality of good coffee and the importance of being environmentally, socially, and economically friendly. To the right of that paragraph is a big green Rainforest Alliance certified stamp with a frog. So, this is the stamp of approval? Below all of Caribou’s declarations is a landscape style portrait of a waterfall, some lavishly green mountains with sun shining threw the clouds, and a bag of Caribou Coffee. Below this huge picture, is a description of what the rainforest alliance is.

The ad is targeting 18+ year old coffee drinkers who are internet savvy and environmentally friendly. Although many older people drink coffee, most are not computer friendly and would not have known anything about Caribou Coffee teaming up with the Rainforest Alliance unless they read it in the newspaper or saw it at the store themselves. This ad is trying to maintain its current customers as well as draw in more customers. The ad was sent out to current customers so that the customers could have an increase in positive feelings and have a sense of what their favorite coffee company (Caribou Coffee) was doing to help the world. While doing this, they hope that their current customers will also spread this news to other eco-friendly coffee drinkers as well.

The general ambience of this ad is relaxing. It is almost like walking into a spa where you hear the sound of water and nature. There are only soothing colors and nothing bright and dramatic that pops out at you. This ad indeed makes the audience feel comfortable, refreshing, and free. The images shown in this ad seem worry free and beautiful. All you see is bright shining sun over thick green mountains and beautiful waterfalls.

The words and the pictures in the ad do not go hand in hand. Caribou Coffee talks about how their coffee will benefit environmentally, socially and economically, but they only reveal pictures of the environmental side. What about socially and economically? It makes me wonder if they just picked these random pictures from somewhere and used it in their email. If they want their ad to be truthful, they should take pictures of the land where they plant their coffee. They should take pictures of the people who plant their coffee and how their coffee affects the people economically within that area. One thing that struck me was how Caribou Coffee didn’t explain what it meant to be 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified or how to achieve it. The answer should have been at the top along with their other declarations. Instead, the Rainforest Alliance information was all the way at the bottom separated by the beautiful pictures.

In the first paragraph of the email, it states, “Caribou is proud to announce that we are the first major coffeehouse retailed committing to 100 percent Rainforest Alliance certification for all its coffees, a goal we plan to achieve by the end of 2011.” There, the word “first” caught my eye. It sparked my curiosity and I compared it with Peace Coffee, a local organic and free trade coffee company. I always thought of Peace Coffee as being the best coffee, because their coffee tasted great and was organic along with free trade. However, they weren’t Rainforest Alliance certified, so does this mean they are not as positive as Caribou Coffee? I had to find out what it meant to be Rainforest Alliance certified. According to the Rainforest Alliance website (http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/index.cfm), “The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior.” If you click on the link below, you will see what it means to be Rainforest Alliance certified.

http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/certification.cfm?id=about


I made a phone call to Caribou Coffee to ask if their beans were organic. The customer service representative, Jeff, indicated to me that their beans were not organic, but that the pesticides/fertilizers used are correctly disposed. Although the beans are not organic, at least they are disposing these chemicals correctly and at a minimum so that it won’t reach the plants, animals, and humans within the environment. Along with preventing environmental problems, Caribou Coffee is also dedicated to making a social and economic impact on communities. Socially and economically, workers will have health care, a decent wage, education, sustainable sourcing, and safe working conditions with an equal opportunity for all.

Overall, this ad was not very effective in showing what it meant to be “100% Rainforest Alliance Certified.” A complete description should have been included on the email that was sent out to consumers showing what the process of becoming certified was. There needs to be more information about the Rainforest Alliance and what its missions are. Caribou Coffee provided the Rainforest Alliance’s website for more information, but they should have had the information on their website as well, because this is a very big deal if they are becoming 100% certified. Why should the customer have to search for the information? Shouldn't they be very proud that they are positively affecting others and would want to show this upfront? This change is good, but will not be 100% good until everything is organic. Over time, I hope Caribou Coffee finds ways to become organic and free trade as well. I know it would benefit a lot people because they are one of the biggest coffee chains; therefore, they have a chance to make a big difference.