Marketing & Communications Circular Economy

Kiehl’s Urges Consumers:
‘Don’t Rebuy. Just Refill’

The skincare brand highlights the benefits of refillable vs single-use packaging formats in its latest campaign.

Published 3 months ago | About a 3 minute read

Image: Kiehl's

Kiehl’s Since 1851 is continuing its efforts to drive a more circular packaging economy by encouraging consumers to opt for refillable formats, when able.

Its newest campaign, “Don’t Rebuy. Just Refill,” was created to drive consumers' awareness of their single-use packaging habit and its costs to the environment: Plastic pollution has now permeated the farthest reaches of the Earth — from the depths of the ocean floor to the highest peak, Mount Everest.

Kiehl’s collaborated with renowned stop-motion director Mark Waring on the campaign film — which transports viewers to Mount Everest, where animated plastic trash sings to a purposeful parody of the hit single, “I Will Survive.” The updated lyrics and animation convey how plastic can live for hundreds of years as waste or be reused forever in a bathroom through refillable product formats.

Kiehl’s offers a variety of face, body, and hair formula favorites in refillable pouches —its #1 moisturizer, Ultra Facial Cream (UFC), is the latest addition to the collection. UFC’s refill pouch is made with 61 percent less plastic packaging than one 50ml jar and can refill that same jar three times.

Kiehl’s history with Mount Everest goes back to 1988, when the brand sponsored the first ascent expedition on the mountain’s East Face without supplemental oxygen. Climbers were equipped with Kiehl’s products to ensure skin remained hydrated throughout the expedition, despite the mountain’s harsh conditions.

Now, Kiehl’s is back in Everest — in partnership with Nepal-based NGO Sagarmatha Next and Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee’s Carry Me Back initiative — to support the removal of plastic waste from the area for proper recycling. Over two years, approximately 22 tons of waste left behind by tourists in Everest National Park and the Khumbu region will be removed through the partnership.

Kiehl’s has also collaborated with artist and environmental activist, Benjamin Von Wong, for a second time this year to create a thought-provoking sculpture that will live at Sagarmatha Next’s Centre — en route to Everest Base Camp. The installation draws attention to the single-use plastic waste problem in the region while encouraging trekkers and climbers who pass through to use refillable formats when they can. Earlier this year, Kiehl’s first collaboration with Von Wong yielded “Single-Use Reflections” — a striking installation that invited New York City viewers to reflect on how both systemic change and small, individual lifestyle shifts can move the needle on reducing global plastic waste.

For its part, Kiehl’s is part of a growing movement of beauty brands and retailers embracing refillable and reusable packaging formats. The company says circularity is its mission in progress — it has pledged to be transparent about its imperfect journey while taking action and inspiring others, both individuals and companies, to do the same. Kiehl’s is committed to eliminating single-use plastic by designing 100 percent of its products to be reused, refilled or made of recycled materials by 2030.