SunChips Take on Green Marketing Approach

SunChips have recently decided that want to be positioned as a environmentally conscious, savy, and resourceful brand. Choosing to incorporate a green marketing strategy, appearing as a bold step for the brand, was not a choice that came completely out of the blue. SunChips, a brand of the FritoLay division of PepsiCo corporation, has recently added solar panels to its FritoLay manufacturing plant in California. So in a way, SunChips is making more literal use of its name in the development of its product, by using the Sun to help make the chips themselves.

SunChips is adding a 10-acre farm for this project with the intention of having the farm supply roughly 75% of the energy required to make the product. This particular plant, which plans on using the solar panels, is located in Modesto, California, and is only one of seven that actually product SunChips. The new green marketing strategy is expected to be launched on April 22nd, and is intended to position the SunChips brand as an environmentally caring snack brand.

This new campaign will not be subtle. In fact, PepsiCo has designed an advertising campaign that includes television commercials, print ads, billboards, website info, and even Facebook advertisements, to link its brand name to the increasingly popular Social network among the SunChips' young target audience.

This new approach to advertising, is becoming extremely popular among international brands, including corporations such as Coca-Cola, Toyota, and Wal-Mart. Not all environmentally-focused campaigns are so easily accepted among the public. Much of the public is skeptical about the reasons behind a company's desire to switch to green marketing. Some skeptics resent the corporate world's attempt to play on the general public's concern for the environment. They feel that companies and brands are manipulating the public's environmental concerns, while redeveloping business strategies that can be considered green marketing. They have even coined a new term, "greenwashing," which can be defined as the act of companies and brands to inappropriately integrate green marketing campaign strategies to gain public interest for their brand.

Only time will tell if the SunChip brand's new green marketing appeal stays positive with the general public, and if consumers are willing to accept the SunChips brand as an appropriate environmentally themed product.


[Elliot, Stuart. Trumpeting a Move to Put the Sun in SunChips." New York Times 27 Mar. 2008. 28 Mar. 2008 27adco.html?pagewanted=1&ref=media>. ]