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IN YOUR MEMO THIS EDITION
The Earth Day quote everyone's been misreading
The hard balance: too soft, too proud, too bold
The ground has shifted (look at the numbers)
The Evergreens: the reads from brands keeping eco year-round
Why animal imagery wins (Coyuchi's sheep, Pela's cat)
WE JUST WRAPPED UP EARTH MONTH.
April was so noisy with brands leaning into planet-conscious messaging angles. As it should be, right? The month was supposed to remind us to be kind to our planet. But call me cynical — shouldn't we always? When no one is watching, will everyone still do the work? Or was this just a notch on the marketing calendar? (Does it feel like “Bye Earth Day. Hello Mother's Day.” ?)
One eyebrow stays raised when they drop the Shakespeare quote in the caption. Can I tell you about that quote?
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin"
…is from Troilus and Cressida (Act 3, Scene 3), and the line has nothing to do with environmental kinship. Ulysses is making a sharp little point about humans preferring shiny new things over old, lasting ones. Which means the line brands trot out every April to signal eco-belonging is, in its original context, a critique of doing exactly that.
(Read it again. UGH.)
THE HARD BALANCE
Leading with a sustainability angle is harder than the deck makes it look.
Too soft → performative
Too proud → greenwashing
Too bold → fear-mongering and guilt
The good news is the ground has shifted. The audience is signaling that eco-practice should be the standard, the baseline we should all be working toward as a matter of course.
65% of Gen Z are willing to pay more for sustainable products (Deloitte Global Gen Z & Millennial Survey, 2025)
64% rank alignment with personal values as their top consideration when choosing between similar products (Britopian Gen Z Purchasing Behavior Report, 2025)
58% are wary of brands that claim sustainability without proof, with 67% using third-party verification apps like Good On You or Ethical Consumer (Capital One Shopping Eco-Conscious Consumer Report, 2026)
THE EVERGREENS
Sustainability is in the evergreen rotation for these brands. Here’s how they do it.
1. Reformation - Sexy Math
Hook leans into the "girl math" trend, fluent in her audience's language.
Visual: a Vogue-approved fun runway. The math walks into frame as the model walks in.
More from this brand:
Reformation - The Jeans
Reformation - The Mushroom
2. DYPER - The Rash Question
Tells the customer why plastic-free matters (micro-plastic awareness is finally hitting).
Social-comment format does the genuine-connection lift.
3. Wild Deodorant
"I save the earth by wearing WILD sustainable deodorant and by barely showering."
HILARIOUS, perfect delivery. No explanation needed.
SURI with sophsplantkitchen
A creator known for plant-filled, slow-routine wellness content, paired with a toothbrush positioned as a sustainable ritual.
The brand is welcomed into trust she has spent years building.
6. CREDO BEAUTY — The teach.
Incredibly valuable content, never preachy.
I was today years old when I learned this. Empty containers, no excuse. Mission accomplished.
7. Pela - The Cat
A cat in a tiny bowtie does what a sustainability bullet point can't. Stewardship over guilt. Suddenly there is something to protect.
More from this brand:
Pela - The Dirt (investigative-style story telling)
Pela - The Waterfall
8. COYUCHI — The sheep.
On a recent DTC Podcast, Brand President Vicki Williams-Grahan shared that an email featuring a sheep was one of their best performers (3x)
The move isn't put a sheep on it. The move is: make the viewer feel the natural world before you ask them to read about ingredients.
WHY?
Sustainability is abstract. Climate beneficial is abstract. Organic is abstract. The words have been worn so smooth they slide off the brain. Animals give the abstract a face. They make the concept tangible, visible, emotionally real. You don't need to understand regenerative agriculture to look at sheep on green land and understand.
There is a subtler move in there too. Sheep in a field signals before factories. (Deer in a forest signals before plastic. Butterflies in a garden signal before chemicals.) Animals reposition the frame entirely.
📝 THE STICKY NOTE
If your takeaway from this is to start posting cat videos and animal pics, I would ever be SO pissed. Please don’t fake it.
The brands winning here have already built worlds where sustainability is the default. That is the bar. That is what we should all be working toward.
🧩 ACRONYM THERAPY
ESG
Environmental, Social, Governance.
But also
Evergreen. Specific. Genuine.
Three for the way the mission shows up in the work.
🎧 FROM ME TO YOU
The Suri ad just showed you the move: let the creator tell the story genuinely, authentically. Plenty of brands see it. Few know how to scale it.
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DID TODAY’S MEMO HIT?
What was your favorite sustainability ad / story telling?
Hit reply and tell me.
The Creative Strategist
at The Marketer’s Memo
More Ad-ventures coming next week!
