Brita is drawing attention to its sustainability efforts through a world-renowned photographer, augmented reality, and sustainable locale.
Toronto’s Evergreen Brickworks is featuring a collection of waterway photos by industrial landscape photographer Edward Burtynsky.
His work is being accompanied by an AR exhibit that transforms the space’s concrete floor into a six-foot-wide sinkhole, where single-use plastic bottles collapse into an abyss that swirls stats about the deleterious impact of plastic bottle waste.
The AR display ends with a water bottle pyramid, revealing why Brita is a more sustainable choice.
The brand is also launching a collection of premium stainless steel filtering water bottles to deliver what it calls “hassle-free hydration anywhere,” which were present at the media launch held this week.
“It’s not about a product launch,” says Anisha Sane, marketing lead, Brita Canada. “Brita’s about getting consumers to make a responsible decision, and to choose to stop using single use water bottles.”
“We know Brickworks is extremely popular, and we expect thousands of consumers to go through the event,” Sane says, adding that, as a sustainability-forward organization and locale, it’s the perfect place to convey the brand’s message.
The event is an extension of Brita’s two-year-old “Drink like you care” campaign, which puts the onus back on the consumer to make responsible choices and demonstrate that they care about the planet.
The AR component allows the brand to bring to life the pile of waste that a single Brita system can replace annually, and provide other jarring stats about the dangers of plastics, particularly to water systems.
In 2019, Brita engaged with this theme by creating “Niagara Now,” a three-metre horseshoe-shaped waterfall constructed out of 900 plastic water bottles, and displayed at Toronto’s Union Station.
Brita’s audience target is mostly families, but during the pandemic, it’s broadened – as more people are using water systems.
“What we’ve seen over COVID, is that more people are in the water filtration category, and engaging in it,” Sane says, explaining that some used to rely on water solutions that were provided by their employer when they were working in an office.
According to Sane, healthy hydration is also top of mind for consumers during the pandemic, and more are realizing that water is the best option for good health.
Brita also recently developed a partnership with TerraCycle, where Canadians can sign up online to be part of a mail-in program to recycle their old Brita products. TerraCycle bins will be onsite for the duration of the Brickworks exhibit so that visitors can recycle their old Brita products.
The AR experience was created for Brita by Toronto-based AVARA Media (co-founded by Burtynsky and Vikas Gupta), while Devon handled the PR side of the event.