Last month, I shared a roundup of some sustainability-related products that had crossed my path, and now, as we head into fall, here’s another installment of branding initiatives and eco-friendly products for your reading pleasure.

We Stan a Stain

Google the term “ketchup stain,” and the first result to come up is instructions on how to remove the unsightly blotch from clothing. Heinz, however, wants to “change the narrative from a stain to a statement,” according to Alyssa Cicero, the company’s brand manager.

How? By releasing a collection of thrifted clothing, all featuring ketchup stains. The Heinz Vintage Drip collection, sourced from online thrift store thredUP, features 157 – see what they did there? – secondhand streetwear and designer pieces, each with a “unique Heinz ketchup stain.”

“While Heinz is recognized globally for its iconic glass bottle, keystone and slow-pouring ketchup, we saw an opportunity to view the stain we’ve been leaving on clothes as another iconic brand symbol,” Cicero said. “This collection is about sustainably celebrating the character Heinz ketchup stains adds to apparel.”

The Vintage Drip collection highlights the appeal of thrifting among younger consumers. ThredUP’s own 2022 Resale Report found that 62% of Gen Z and millennial shoppers look for an item secondhand before purchasing it new, and that the global secondhand apparel market is expected to grow by 127% by 2026 – three times faster than the global apparel market overall.

An added bonus: 100% of the proceeds from the collection goes to Rise Against Hunger to support global hunger relief.

The first of the limited-edition collection dropped on August 30 on thredUP’s site, with another drop scheduled for September 13. If the collection sells out quickly, don’t worry. I have a great DIY hack for you: Just put on an old white T-shirt and head to the closest backyard barbecue.

Verdict: This is a clever way to reframe the dreaded ketchup stain and build branding in a more sustainable way. I’m not sure I’m ready to buy intentionally stained clothing – though a quick glance at the Vintage Drip store shows me there are plenty of people who are.

A Hotline to Kick the Fast Fashion Habit

ThredUP is also behind this next sustainability-related marketing gem. The online resale platform teamed up with Priah Ferguson, actor on the hit Netflix show “Stranger Things,” to launch the Fast Fashion Confessional Hotline. The marketing stunt is based on more data from thredUP’s Resale Report, which found that 59% of fast fashion shoppers say it’s a habit that’s hard to break and that nearly two in three aspire to buy more secondhand fashion. More than two in five college students say they buy clothing for events they’re likely to wear only once, according to the report.

When shoppers call 1-855-THREDUP, they’ll hear Ferguson’s voice convincing them not to buy more fast fashion, and if they remain on the line they’ll learn more about “why fast fashion is bad for the planet and why thrifting can be an affordable, sustainable alternative,” according to thredUP. Callers also have a chance to share a fast fashion confession via voicemail.

“Gen Z has shown the world that they care about the planet more than any other generation, yet they’re inundated with shopping choices that make it easier than ever to mindlessly consume. This presents a unique challenge for Gen Z,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, the market research firm thredUP partnered with for its Resale Report.

Verdict: Obviously, thredUP has a vested interest in encouraging the growth of secondhand shopping, but this initiative both acknowledges the appeal of and highlights the environmental concerns with fast fashion. And it does it in a lighthearted, approachable way. One of the points I’ve been trying to make since Promo for the Planet launched earlier this year is that education on sustainability is key – but also that it’s a journey, not an immediate destination, and you have to meet people where they are vs. where you wish they would be. A tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign like this hotline is one way to do just that.

These Tees Get a B for Effort

https://t.co/hQfwvrrDK2 is here! 🎉

We collaborated with @tsdesigns (a fellow B Corp) to create these sustainable tees made from their Homegrown Cotton.

You'll find a QR code stitched into the neck pad that shows every step of their sourcing process. #bcorpwear #oliverrussell

— OLIVER RUSSELL (@Oliver_Russell) August 26, 2022

Our final sustainability tidbit comes from two B Corps, the sustainability certification that’s been growing in popularity in promo and beyond. Branding agency Oliver Russell recently launched B Corp Wear, an e-commerce site featuring a line of T-shirts touting the B Corp philosophy. All the shirts come from TS Designs, the North Carolina-based “dirt to shirt” apparel company known for sourcing sustainably in the U.S.

The Made-in-America T-shirts feature a QR code that connects the customer to every step of the production process, from yarn to finished tee. The garment-dyed tees are decorated using a combination of water-based screen-printing and direct-to-garment printing to minimize waste and enable small production runs. Plus, a portion of each T-shirt sale is donated to the B Lab, the nonprofit that oversees B Corp certification.

“Some of these are things we’ve been doing over the years. Some are relatively new. It’s the first time we’ve combined them all together to continue the journey to make the best T-shirts by balancing people and the planet,” TS Designs president Eric Henry said in a B the Change blog post. “The collaboration with Oliver Russell gives us the opportunity to showcase the value of this interconnected, leading-edge technology approach to apparel manufacturing.”

Verdict: This is a great example of something I’ve written about before: namely, that B Corps like to work with other B Corps. Aesthetically speaking, I like the simplicity of the designs – sans serif white text on black tees. I imagine there’s a market for B Corp aficionados to wear their love of movement on their sleeve, so I’m calling this a win.

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