Carousell's limited sustainability push

Alarmingly often, when departing the old oak tree, Ad Nut has to push through or gracefully leap over ecommerce packages on the way to the coffee shop. While an avalanche of sales events compels Ad Nut to order online in a furry frenzy, the pollution that piles up due to this explosion of orders has Ad Nut worried for friends across the world's woodlands and water bodies. 

So, when Ad Nut saw a new Carousell campaign about sustainability, Ad Nut initially chuckled at the irony of an ecommerce platform preaching about that particular topic. But Ad Nut was also happy to note a company trying to address—and hopefully solve—an issue that's only worsening for both the industry and consumers. 

On the face of it, the numbers are stark. In Singapore alone, big sales such as Singles’ Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have contributed massively to the packaging waste problem, accounting for a third of 1.56 million tonnes of domestic waste annually. Around 200,000 tonnes of waste are added to landfills every year. 

To prevent millions of old items, not to mention packaging, from being discarded and adding to this ever-growing pile of refuse, Carousell’s campaign wants consumers to be part of the solution when they choose to sell and buy secondhand goods. The campaign, done in collaboration with creative agency Bread Butter Bacon, launched today (April 12). It will see Carousell running digital ads on social-media platforms Facebook and TikTok, as well as DOOH ads at various bus stops with high foot traffic around Singapore.

Ad Nut is happy to note that Carousell appears serious with the campaign. “While most of our ads are done in a more tongue-in-cheek manner, we chose to take on a more serious tone for this campaign to spotlight the very real issue of sustainability," Jemimah Seow, regional brand manager for the platform, said in a release sent Ad Nut's way. "The aim of the campaign is not to get people to stop shopping entirely, but to get them to consider secondhand as their first choice."

Sarah Inez Pratomo, creative group head at Bread Butter Bacon, added, “No action is too small to make a difference, and sustainability can start at home.”

For Carousell, a hard-sell pitch to save the world by opting for secondhand products (promoting its own business) is the easy part. Offering longer-term sustainable solutions to the ever-growing pollution problem affecting the entire ecommerce industry and millions of consumers is something else entirely. But Ad Nut trusts Carousell's sincereity and eagerly looks forward to its future efforts—as well as those of other ecommerce platforms. 

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.