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Writer's pictureJon Lake

How Green Is It? Ask 3-Billion Consumers



400 different brands, used by more than three billion people every day, in 190 countries around the world; by Herrish Patel Unilever. Colleen Brennan-Vandersteen addresses $400B in waste!


First the link to the many Green related news by Unilever at https://www.unilever.com/search/?q=green where we will do many upcoming stories on!


Then off to https://saveourplanetrefillery.ca/  to show how to address the losses working together for one planet and her many people! And yes, want to buy a hat? We have them in-stock!


Statement of Mr. Herrish Patel President, Unilever USA before the Committee on the Judiciary U.S. House of Representatives


July 10, 2024 Chairman Jordan, Ranking Member Nadler, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss Unilever’s approach to purchasing advertising that promotes our 400 different brands, used by more than three billion people every day, in more than 190 countries around the world. Unilever takes great care to ensure that our advertisements—whether on television, radio, print media, or online—reach the consumers who use our products, promote our products and brands in a manner that is consistent with their place in the market, and serve our business goals of offering consumers the brands they know and trust for their everyday needs. Competition for consumers’ interest is intense, and gaining consumers’ attention in today’s media environment is difficult and costly. In making decisions on advertising, Unilever uses its advertising dollars to reach as many of our consumers as we can in the environments that maximize sales of our products. Our advertising seeks to meet the consumers where they are, especially when they are making decisions about the products they will buy. Over the last several years, our advertising has shifted increasingly to online platforms—such as websites, video over-the-top streaming services, and applications—because consumers have done the same. Currently, about 80% of our U.S. advertising spending is directed at some form of digital media. Within that category, we spend more on advertising on digital commerce platforms—sites like Amazon, Walmart, Target, Walgreens, and Instacart—than anywhere else because that is where consumers are most frequently when they are making their buying decisions. Only 20% of our U.S. advertising spending goes to social media platforms, and less than 1% goes to digital news. Our advertising aligns with our economic interest to be on platforms that amplify our brands and reach our consumers broadly. Fully 98% of U.S. households have purchased a Unilever product in the last twelve months. We want to reach all of the consumers who use our brands, on platforms that support and align with the brands. Conversely, being associated with content or a platform that detracts from our brands, harms our brands, or is inconsistent with our brands’ identities is decidedly not in our economic interest. With the rise of user-generated social media content and other online media, we have unfortunately seen repeated instances of our brands being associated with content that is harmful to our brands and the company, hampering our ability to build consumers’ trust in our products. In one early example, ads for Dove soap—which has dedicated more than twenty years to its Campaign for Real Beauty—were appearing adjacent to content glorifying domestic violence 2 and rape, significantly harming the brand and alienating consumers. Similarly, the Unilever brands that are trusted and appeal broadly to all Americans are not served by content that is divisive or politically polarizing. For example, in 2020, we pulled back from social media advertising after we determined that the polarizing content would not serve the brands or add value to the brands’ places in the market. As the Committee examines issues central to this hearing, I want to be very clear about one critically important fact: Unilever, and Unilever alone, controls our advertising spending. No platform has a right to our advertising dollar. When a platform offers advertising inventory for purchase, it is up to that platform to demonstrate to us that the content reaches the consumers we seek to target and in a manner that serves our brands’ business interests. As we look across the available advertising inventory—recognizing that we do not have unlimited money to spend on advertising—we choose the channels, platforms, and outlets that give us the greatest commercial benefit for our advertising investment. We have several internal policies and practices that guide these decisions. First, our Code of Business Principles and Code Policies set global standards for Unilever’s marketing. These policies require that our advertisements be truthful, accurate, and transparent. Second, in 2018, we adopted a Responsibility Framework specifically for digital advertising. This framework focuses our advertising activities toward responsible platforms, responsible content, and responsible infrastructure. Third, we have a dedicated team of professionals who are constantly examining the advertising marketplace, working with platforms about the advertising inventory the platforms are offering, examining the platforms’ community standards to help align our advertising with content that serves our brands, and working with our advertising agencies to select the platforms’ offerings that meet our business needs. Relevant for today’s hearing, we have also worked with industry groups to develop solutions that can help Unilever and companies like it make more informed decisions about their advertising spending, including the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (“GARM”). Seventeen advertisers, a half-dozen media companies and platforms, and a dozen agencies.


Thank you Mr. Herrish Patel and looking forward to helping you with truly Green education!


And now, a truly Green product decades in the making and use of great health!


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