How Many Light Bulbs Does It Take To Change…The World?

Hot on the green heels of yesterday’s Live Earth post comes this effort from Phillips. http://www.asimpleswitch.com/?country=us 

To help save the planet, they want us to do the right thing and switch from energy gobbling conventional light bulbs to watt nibbling energy efficient bulbs. The ones carrying the Phillips logo, of course. Not only that, but those crafty Phillipsians also want us to nudge our friends into doing likewise.  

I’m not sure if that part of the campaign will work (getting people to spam friends generally requires something a lot funnier), but I do like the way the site is designed, and how they show the result of your actions, multiplied by your friends actions, multiplied by their friends actions (you get the idea….). It’s very cool animation, and it makes the point that lots of small decisions can lead to great change. And I imagine it will strike a chord with a good part of the population, including those worried about their Florida retirement home someday becoming part of Atlantis II. 

The campaign is also a fine example of a client and agency trying to infuse a lowly commodity product with a strong point of differentiation. And that, as we know, ain’t always easy.