Spring Break
Starbucks, Global Green start online game to promote environmental issues
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: Features
Anthony Noto
Daily Targum (Rutgers)
(U-WIRE NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - The fictional town of Evergreen needs your help. Your mission: Explore the town, look for ways to reduce the impact of global warming and conserve as much energy as possible. At least, that's the premise of a new and free online game created by the partnership of Starbucks Coffee and Global Green USA, a national environmental organization.
"Planet Green Game" is a hybrid, being both educational and commercial. By correctly answering softball quiz questions and scoring points on a variety of minigames, players can learn of different ways to help the environment.
Each destination a player visits presents its own specific challenge. Players can even visit Starbucks in the game to learn about a promotion to encourage caffeine lovers to bring their own mug in during the month of April.
"It's an innovative way to raise the profile of the climate issue," Starbucks Director of Environmental Affairs Ben Packard said.
The game is part of Starbucks' strategy to "green up" its brand. In the past, the company proudly announced how much of its coffee is Fair Trade Organic and what percentage of its cups are made from recycled material. There's even an earthy feel to its color scheme, which has always centered on a forest-green logo.
According to its Corporate Social Responsibility Report, the well-known retail chain has taken particular interest in Morningside Park in New York City, where it created an Earth Day tradition where volunteers gather to clean up the park and plant shrubs. Now, the company looks to cross-promote with Global Green USA using Flash-based multimedia.
"We're the second largest retail purchaser of renewable energy," Packard said. "We realized that we're part of everyday lives, and feel responsible to engage customers on important issues, like climate change."
The company came up with the idea as another way to engage its customers and partners, partly inspired by a previous educational title called "Save Darfur."
Daily Targum (Rutgers)
(U-WIRE NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - The fictional town of Evergreen needs your help. Your mission: Explore the town, look for ways to reduce the impact of global warming and conserve as much energy as possible. At least, that's the premise of a new and free online game created by the partnership of Starbucks Coffee and Global Green USA, a national environmental organization.
"Planet Green Game" is a hybrid, being both educational and commercial. By correctly answering softball quiz questions and scoring points on a variety of minigames, players can learn of different ways to help the environment.
Each destination a player visits presents its own specific challenge. Players can even visit Starbucks in the game to learn about a promotion to encourage caffeine lovers to bring their own mug in during the month of April.
"It's an innovative way to raise the profile of the climate issue," Starbucks Director of Environmental Affairs Ben Packard said.
The game is part of Starbucks' strategy to "green up" its brand. In the past, the company proudly announced how much of its coffee is Fair Trade Organic and what percentage of its cups are made from recycled material. There's even an earthy feel to its color scheme, which has always centered on a forest-green logo.
According to its Corporate Social Responsibility Report, the well-known retail chain has taken particular interest in Morningside Park in New York City, where it created an Earth Day tradition where volunteers gather to clean up the park and plant shrubs. Now, the company looks to cross-promote with Global Green USA using Flash-based multimedia.
"We're the second largest retail purchaser of renewable energy," Packard said. "We realized that we're part of everyday lives, and feel responsible to engage customers on important issues, like climate change."
The company came up with the idea as another way to engage its customers and partners, partly inspired by a previous educational title called "Save Darfur."
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