FinalStraw: the last straw?

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase ‘Green Marketing’? Is it trees and scenes of nature that a company projects to its TV audience? Or is it serious-natured videos that highlight how we as humans have destroyed our environment? Maybe pointing out sustainable or unsustainable practices that are common among most people? These green marketing practices have been used by companies such as the Coca-Cola Company, and Volkswagen, to advertise the companies’ practices and new products. The goal of these campaigns is always to convince the public audience that they are working to counter major environmental issues like carbon emissions or wasteful packaging. For example, Volkswagen’s recent “Something Big” commercial compares seemingly large-scale things such as waterfalls or highways to smaller-scale things, like a leaking sink or riding a bike. It suggests that actions like turning a faucet off or riding a bike to work are more important than their large-scale counterparts (or “bigger”). These acts of sustainability are directly related to environmental and social issues in society, and lead up to the introduction of Volkswagen’s new electric van at the end of the ad. A clear promotion of their new product, and a feel-good message that empowers everyday people to make more sustainable decisions makes this ad an effective ‘green marketing’ example.

But how about mermaids breathing, talking, and walking on land, or large old men wearing speedos while they wash a car, or stuffed turtles having a straw pulled out of their mouths and being dragged across a beach with an invisible string, all to sell a reusable straw?

No? That doesn’t come to mind?

Oh…

Well, how ever absurd this may sound for the promotion of a new “green product,” this is how the company FinalStraw presents their product in a 2018 YouTube commercial. There are no gut-wrenching scenes of straws floating in the ocean, no graphic images of turtles caught in plastic pollution, or even reassuring information of sustainable production practices. This commercial, instead, presents a red-headed mermaid humorously introducing an”eco-friendly” alternative to traditional plastic straws. Although the advertisement effectively markets the product itself to environmentally-conscious populations, FinalStraw ultimately undermines the seriousness of single-use plastic pollution. This is done by approaching the advertisement with over-the-top humor that gives the more serious segments of the ad a sarcastic tone, and by exaggerating the impact that their straw can have on the greater single-use plastic problem. The advertisement seeks nothing more than to sell the product. The tone of the advertisement does not match that of the serious plastic pollution problem. In fact, it creates a disconnect that makes the ad itself almost self-defeating; it’s as if everything the mermaid spokesperson says should be interpreted sarcastically by the viewer. If the plastic pollution was properly emphasized through this advertisement, the message would have encouraged the audience to avoid straw usage and unnecessary consumption as a whole, not to consume more and buy this $25 miniature tent pole.

Nonetheless, FinalStraw’s marketing team employs many edgy marketing tactics to engage the audience. The ad itself almost reaches the level of absurdity and “edginess” as an Old Spice commercial. Bright colors and depicting a fantastical creature as the spokesperson for the product definitely holds the audience’s attention for the duration of the ad. Even more absurd are the two speedo-wearing men that serve no purpose other than to entertain the audience. These men appear periodically throughout the video, have no lines, and act as space-fillers on the screen. However, the difference between Old Spice and FinalStraw lies within the purpose of the two products. While Old Spice can use absurd humor to sell their deodorant, they are simply another deodorant brand marketing a product to make people smell better. FinalStraw on the other hand is confronting a major worldly problem: single-use plastic. They jump from humorous descriptions of the product, to referencing a serious statistic that says within the first 95 seconds of the video 561,343 straws have been “discarded in the US alone.” This change in tone is abrupt. Pairing of factual evidence to add credibility to the argument with a ludicrous scene beforehand does not allow for the true immensity of this issue to be understood by the viewer. In this same sense, if the company wanted to market the environmental benefits of the straw, it would not choose to undermine the tone of current plastic usage by initiating the ad with whimsical and absurd scenes.

Even the depiction of the product and its convenience is eccentric. The unnamed mermaid uses a string of adjectives in the first scene to introduce the “collapsible, reusable, totally badass straw.” Stacking of adjectives combined with the smiling face of mermaid establishes a positive and cool perception of the product. This is important when marketing to younger and a more socially-conscious demographic, such as those who watch YouTube videos. Since what we own, do, or use everyday is a direct reflection of our character, this straw being labeled as “totally badass” would be an attribute that many young people would like to associate with. Furthermore, the act itself of describing a straw as “badass” reflects the company’s comical approach as a straw simply serves to transport liquid from a cup to one’s mouth–as if FinalStraw is aware of their absurdity as a straw company. The company also promotes convenience with phrases like, “FinalStraw folds up to the size of a car key, and fits in this sexy case,” or “if you can remember your keys when you leave your house, then you’ll remember your straw…there’s no way you’ll leave it in your car.” Definitive statements such as this one convince the viewer that the straw is both useful and practical. The mermaid and her speedo-wearing comrades explain that, “there is no need to worry about keeping it clean,” due to the squeegee included in each case. The fact that is is “BPA free, dishwasher safe,” includes a “specially-designed squeegee,” and is “safe for human children and their adults,” builds a consumer’s trust. This quick information-stacking method throws the information at the consumer with little need for in-depth explanation and allows the consumer to make a snap judgment of the product and its benefits.

Additionally, the unconventionality of a sea creature in a terrestrial environment leads to flexibility and creative opportunities for production crews to humorously display the mermaid standing upright or sliding across tile floors, just as a person walking, but on her tail instead of legs or feet. This character selection is effective in humoring the serious underlying issue and also allows for a human-like character to communicate well with the human viewers while relating the product to oceanic plastic pollution. For example, an allusion to another YouTube video from 2015 where marine biologists removed a straw from the nostril of a sea turtle is depicted with a stuffed turtle and the mermaid removing the straw instead of marine biologists. She references the fact that straws often make their way to the ocean where they “hurt and kill my friends in the sea”—the turtles. Using a stuffed animal to allude to a real, shocking event undoubtedly undermines the experience of the turtle that had the straw removed originally, the pain it caused, and the frequency of events like this. Stuffed animals remove the sense of reality and severity associated with the plastic problem, and make the audience less sympathetic in its response to it.

Furthermore, the concluding statement by the mermaid that “a movement is happening,” and “together we can stop plastic pollution” acts as a bandwagon call-to-action of sorts that relates straw-purchasers to the greater issue. If by purchasing this straw, I can help save turtles and decrease waste, then I must have one of these straws! That is what FinalStraw wants to capitalize off of: individual’s desire to help the environment. In this same scene, the two large men appear again laying on the beach and building a sand castle next to the mermaid. The contrast of her serious call-to-action with attention-grabbing humor makes you want to buy a straw to help the environment as much as you want to laugh at the senselessness of the entire ad.

Just as quickly as single-use plastic has become taboo across the country, companies have created seemingly “eco-friendly” products to capitalize off of the environmentalist in all of us. Today, straws, which cannot be recycled and often find their way into our marine and terrestrial ecosystems, are the most heavily criticized single-use plastic product. It is even estimated that the US alone consumes 500 million straws a day. So, as celebrities and trendy environmentalists begin to follow the campaign to #stopsucking, FinalStraw feeds the our consumer desires by selling the hashtag #suckresponsibly. This hashtag implies that the company understands that their product is unnecessary, and that their useless straws do “suck”, but if the straw is reusable, it is a better alternative than single-use plastics. The company based in the US with production facilities in Shenzhen China, fails to address the environmental impact associated with the production of the silicone and metal straw, the carbon footprint of product distribution, and simply feeds the consumerism plaguing society today. Furthermore, the exorbitant amount of humor and sarcasm utilized in the YouTube advertisement undermines the reality of our waste problem. If the issue of single-use plastics’ environmental impact can fully be addressed, the problem must be extinguished at the source. People must adapt to drinking their iced lattes directly from the cup, instead of through their trendy, “badass” FinalStraw.