This month, Canadians may have noticed that The Body Shop has been monkeying around on the dating app Tinder. The brand has created a profile for Reggie, a Red Shanked Douc monkey from Vietnam, as part of a new ‘gorilla’ marketing initiative to promote its new Bio-Bridges program.
Since it was announced in May, the program has been promoted through the ‘Help Reggie Find Love’ campaign, online and in-stores. The playful campaign is intended to raise awareness around the challenges that monkeys and other endangered species face in living safely and finding a mate.
The extension of the campaign onto Tinder was announced in early July. Reggie is, after all, “looking for his (pri)mate – or at least someone DTMA (down to monkey around).”
“The Bio-Bridges program is an important component of our Enrich Not Exploit™ Commitment, the first stage in our ultimate aim to become the world's most ethical and truly sustainable global business,” said Toby Milton, General Manager of The Body Shop Canada.
“The Tinder campaign is a fun way to reach a new audience and create awareness among Canadians about our global sustainability initiatives and show customers how they can get involved.”
Reggie’s profile is viewable by anyone living in the Toronto and Vancouver areas. The placement is running for a total of 4 weeks, as part of the kick off for Canada’s Bio-Bridges promotion.
Every purchase made at The Body Shop in Canada from July 1st through September 30th will ‘fund’ one square meter of rainforest Bio-Bridge. In the UK and U.S., the campaign started and will conclude earlier; U.K. customers can support the campaign with purchases through August 15th, while customers in the U.S. have until August 22nd. Country-by-country availability can be found on the campaign website.
By 2020, The Body Shop aims to protect and regenerate 75 million square meters of forest to protect it from exploitation, poaching and unsustainable harvesting. The company is working with World Land Trust and local organizations to deliver each project. Two projects has been announced thus far – one in Khe Nuoc Trong, Vietnam and one in Garo Hills, India – but stay tuned! The Body Shop’s Christmas campaign may have more news.
The Body Shop has made 14 bold commitments for the same timeframe, with the help of the Future-Fit Business Benchmark.
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Published Jul 22, 2016 2am EDT / 11pm PDT / 7am BST / 8am CEST