Unilever's 'Project Sunlight' hopes to make sustainable

living commonplace

(As a part of Unilever's Sustainable…)

Even with the Mayan prophecies of doomsday behind us, we live in constant fear of an
impending Armageddon. 'The world is not a safe/happy place to live anymore' is the sense one
gets from comments whether on social media or via good old fashioned conversation, whenever
something unpleasant happens. Even as the cloud is largely being used for 'outrage', Unilever has
launched a global initiative that harnesses social media to spread the message of hope. And to tie
as many of its brands as it can with this message.

Starting in India, Indonesia, the US, the UK and Brazil, Project Sunlight is the FMCG
behemoth's long-term initiative to motivate people to make sustainable living commonplace. As
a part of Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan, the project aims at improving the lives and future of
a billion people. This includes tie-ups with organisations like UNICEF and the World Food
Programme.

To spread the word, Unilever released a four and a half minute long online film on the 19th of
November. Created by DAVID, with the support of Ogilvy & Mather, Latin America, 'Why
bring a child into this world?' garnered more than 2.5 million YouTube hits within two days.
"Executive creative directors Joaquin Cubria and Ignacio Ferioli with their teams arrived at this
magical question that makes us rethink our world," shares Gaston Bigio, one of the founding
members of DAVID.

Here Comes The Sun

Directed by Errol Morris, the film addresses expecting parents' apprehensions about having
children in a world that sometimes appears on the verge of collapse. A film within a film is then
shown to the would-be parents which demonstrates that there's still hope. Little efforts can
ensure a bright future for 'those yet to come.' The video urges one and all to become a part of this
effort.

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The film was rooted in the insight that parenthood creates a profound shift in one's worldview. It
is a key moment when people are more likely to change their lifestyle. By building a movement
around this theme, Unilever hopes to make it a rallying point for everyone interested in change -
not just expectant parents.
Significantly, Project Sunlight also makes sense from a branding point of view. It's not just about
altruism: Sunlight gathers various socially driven marketing initiatives on individual brands and
puts mother brand Unilever clearly in the driver's seat. It's obvious even from a cursory visit to
the Project's India website. There are some obvious choices like Lifebuoy and Help a Child
Reach Five, Domex and the toilet academy that intends building safe sanitation options, Pureit
and safe drinking water or Dove which has moved from campaigns for 'real beauty' to promoting
self esteem, taking on hot button issues like bullying in school. Many of these lead to microsites
that provide consumers an opportunity to participate either via donations or by sharing ads and
thereby doubling up as mini broadcasters in their own right. But others feel a bit like a stretch:
for instance, Walls standing for Quality Time with children.

At least some of its brands could place Unilever in an uncomfortable position. As Anand Halve,
co-founder and director at chlorophyll, points out, "This has crossed the line into an idealistic
future. Whereas, in reality, Unilever make humdrum products and are not a GE that's creating
handheld devices to diagnose critical diseases." Even as Dove talks about helping a girl reach her
full potential, there's a Fair & Lovely ad starring Virat Kohli where he says, "23 ka hun, ab nahin
pataunga toh kab," (I'm 23, if I don't make moves on women now, then when) pointing at the
ladies in a room. To say nothing of the latest Axe commercial with the sexist tagline Score More.
Does the company have the conviction to eliminate such tonal contradictions ? Or is there going
to be a difference between the Sunlight and non Sunlight brands? Unilever is not revealing that
information at the moment.

However, at the time of going to print, there were already over 29 million users who'd signed
up. Halve says, "In a climate of distrust in corporates and capitalism, an organisation genuinely
wanting to discover a sense of purpose for itself sounds legitimate." Santosh Desai, MD and
CEO of Future Brands, believes the movement will not have a short-term impact on Unilever.
But it gives them a chance to build strong goodwill provided they deliver on their promises. "It's
important for them to be careful that they don't overpromise because that'll only further the
distrust for large corporates," he cautions.

While many companies have made overtures towards standing for a lot more than their product
portfolio — see Unilever's arch rival P&G and its focus on purpose driven brands — Project
Sunlight is undoubtedly a huge step. One that attempts to blur the lines between activism and
slacktivism . The real challenge will be ensuring that Unilever's followers and consumer's remain
emotionally and financially invested in its social objectives, a tough call in an short attention
span, sensation driven world.