26 Comments

Makes for an interesting pencil pot?!
Colin Hall
2009-01-13 12:36:58

(comment deleted by moderator)... the negative promo they're going to get from it is just...words fail.
Kevin
2009-01-13 12:42:43

That's too bad, really. It's commendable for sure. Feel sorry that the 'idea' from this paper's staff is getting called out here. Would of been nicer for you to receive something that, itself, was recycled. You should see what kind of useless things that online rich media companies send to our work addresses in America. I think I have a large, blue inflatable ball (and pump) under my desk.
Nirav V. Patel
2009-01-13 13:07:55

It's paradoxical. On the one hand, there seems to be this desire to brush up on their 'green' image. But on the other, has anyone ever walked down Kingsway or Bishopsgate in the rain during rush hour? Not only do you have to be careful not to get your eye poked out by one of the dozen people lined up to bombard you with 'free' paper handouts, but you also have to try not to slip on the copies thrown on the ground by those obviously not bothered to hold on to them. Surely there must be a better way of basing a 'lite news' business around ad revenue without having to produce so much '100% recycled' litter and waste? (Yet again, this may just be part of the advertising initiative.)
Sarah Badr
2009-01-13 14:11:44

I think you'll find thelondonpaper has an impeccable recycling record. Not only do they recycle paper, but they recycle the news too. Genius.
Dave Lee
2009-01-13 15:01:07

This campaign is about making a respectable impression of caring and that is badly done, that's all. "This campaign does not look environmentally friendly enough" would be a more honest analysis.

Being truly respectable with the environment means spending much much less, earning much much less and probably, spend this winter cold and hungry . That would be fair with the rest of the world and would really save the planet. Anything else, like driving an expensive and sophisticated Prius, is showing off your eco-ego.

The whole idea of "green" is a farce when the first world is the only part of the planet concern about ecology, the one that causes the problem and the only one who does next to nothing.

It's not like I want all of us to eat tofu and sign. I'd rather drive a V8, eat meat all day and fart in some pristine beach in Venezuela. It just that bothers me to know that we could live like that with a tenth of the current world's population and still enjoy a mostly virgin planet. Wouldn't it be nice not to be ecological and enjoy nature?

So there you go, don't have kids, wait a couple generations and then make horrible purple ads worry free.
Dani R
2009-01-13 15:07:13

Ben Terrett at Noisy Decent Graphics recently blogged about his frustrations with the freesheets' lack of recycling facilties.

http://noisydecentgraphics.typepad.com/design/2008/11/please-recycle-this-post-when-youve-read-it.html

It's one thing "recycling" them within a train/tube carriage from reader to reader, but surely there needs to be far more bins in stations for when they're finally thrown away?
 Mark Sinclair
2009-01-13 15:18:29

Unbelievable. The bins are yet more direct mail shite. How will alien archeologists explain it when they visit our dead planet and see all the plastic doo dads we were prepared to destroy ourselves for.
Julie Oakley
2009-01-13 16:26:32

I work in NYC in the states - I get a ton of direct mail pieces that will go directly to the trash. Most direct mail pieces are usually trash I don't think I have ever held on to one or thought wow thats clever. They are cheaply produced and usually barely ties into what they are promoting. I wonder if those purple trash bins are even recyclable.

Wouldn't it been better if they gave you a collapsible recycling bin you could have in your office/ home to recycle?
Paulo Pereira
2009-01-13 21:29:49

I can't understand why they don't have to supply bins in at stations in exchange for being able to distribute thousands of their papers? A recent study by Keep Britain Tidy had coffee cups as the biggest cause of litter on London streets, I found this very surprising given the number of free papers I trip up every day.

2 bins outside station exits that are emptied at 10pm, can't be that had can it?
Paul Thurston
2009-01-14 09:38:29

In their defence, the free paper (both varieties as far as I can tell) guys in Angel do have waste bags and keep their sections of the street pretty tidy

I find Dani R's 'eco-ego' comment interesting, and while I don't necessarily agree with everything said, this paradoxical campaign reminds me of a thought I was having in M&S yesterday - my local store has painted it's Plan A initiatives on the walls (ego/PR serving? Possibly both) But I was impressed that they actually sounded like well thought out, obtainable goals, rather than so many of these PR exercises - like this one.
Helen-LG
2009-01-14 11:55:42

Looks great but misses the point. Recycling is about reduce, reuse and recycle. what better way to drive that home by creating more useless crap to put on your desk and sit there forever. the most important part of this green movement is reducing.
More Stuff
2009-01-14 20:01:38

I think this is pathetic. If they are so concerned about the environment - then stop producing it. These free papers make London unbearably dirty and untidy - as well as wasting paper. I can't imagine why the mayor of London doesn't clamp down on these wasteful pollutants.
keith Stephenson
2009-01-15 11:37:29

Our office recieved more of these mailers than the actual number of people who work here, plus surplus for people who have since left the company! Ridiculous.
Charlotte
2009-01-15 11:50:30

someone somewhere is really proud and pleased with the production of that tat. it's about time we had an agency that can fine companies for this kind of crap!
DRM
2009-01-15 12:18:31

Dave Lee: "I think you’ll find thelondonpaper has an impeccable recycling record. Not only do they recycle paper, but they recycle the news too" - Damn, you beat me to it!

All I can do is echo the majority of the comments above. What an appalling way to demonstrate their 'green values'.
Jonathan
2009-01-15 12:24:19

Ohhh stop it. Aren't there bigger environmental issues with which to concern ourselves than a few thousand small plastic bins? Remember, disposal of them isn't compulsory.

Though looking at them, I can't imagine why.
Jason
2009-01-15 12:37:40

Thoughts from a polarised Northerner:

On the few occasions that I DO venture into London, I am quite frankly offended by the throw-away mindset of the free London paper companies - I'm sure they are the butt of many a paper-baiting-uniform-tripping-youtube-uploading game on a daily commute to work down there. Perhaps they wouldn't be such a joke if they thought about some REAL green initiatives such as a paperless paper! "A paperless paper, how radical, how 'out-there"... why, when most of us are not talking on a phone, we are playing with one, cannot these companies broadcast their news via wap/bluetooth etc for people to read digitally? Is the tube really THAT boring and THAT disconnected that we have to feel the need to use archaic methods of communication to find out what's going on in the REAL world - you know, the one ABOVE ground?!
Mark Williamson
2009-01-15 12:53:57

It's a tough one, its nice to receive and give gifts, even in business. Yet, when you're trying to have an eco-conscience (like so so many businesses do and should have) its very difficult to to come up with a solution that everyone is happy with.

Is there a gift out there that;
A) People want, and
B) Will do no harm to the environment either in its production or distribution?
Benjy
2009-01-15 13:54:30

On a practical note I think the reason there aren't more bins placed directly outside stations is because the authorities are a bit nervous about them being used as drop boxes for bombs.
Ken
2009-01-15 13:59:13

In my opinion, the best gift that these free 'news'papers could give to everyone is to stop producing their daily dose of printed media bullshit altogether. Talk about a way to dumb people down on mass!

The only thing thelondonpaper is good for anyway is the bin, unfortunately a vast number of them don't even make it to a recycling one.
Mike
2009-01-15 17:28:52

Someone just posted a comment starting with the word "Ironic..." but I've accidentally deleted it. Can you repost? Thanks and apologies..
 Mark Sinclair
2009-01-16 13:49:48

Ironic that the bin's colour is the opposite of green (open the image above in any photo editing software and invert it). Perhaps it is a coded protested by a disgruntled designer being forced to work on a project that doesn't sit well with their personal principals?
Matt Seward
2009-01-16 20:26:25

A few years ago someone mailed me a similar but smaller plastic rubbish bin. It is bright yellow and is also a pencil sharpener. My grandson, aged 9, treasures it.
Mark Cummins
2009-01-19 16:13:19

I bet the newspaper guys would never have thought about that otherwise they wouldn't have said 100% recycled. So perhaps slowly and finally we are reaching the end of the newspaper era. People all over the world are getting too much environmentally conscious.
Amrit Ray
2009-01-20 08:06:26

well, I think the equation works like that for thelondonpaper: more people take their free papers with them, more they may share them with their family (which means thelondonpaper can ask more money for their ads), which means less reuse of free papers in the tube, thus more copies to be printed. The dream of the freesheet publishers is that we all recycle their papers at home. We must not only encourage recycling but also a maximum of reuse. Here is my proposition: http://bruchansky.name/2009/01/22/recycling-kpis-transport-fo-london/
christophe
2009-01-22 20:10:52

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