Green billboard sprouts along EDSA

Oh! Potatoes!

I envy other countries for having advertisements that are creative. In the Philippines, I feel that advertising agencies and advertisers are perhaps a little to conservative. I cannot blame them. Consumers in the Philippines are not used to different advertising executions. We are traditional in one way or another. Our exposure on advertisements are mostly on TV.

But every once in awhile, you see very creative executions that really catches your attention.

I think a similar billboard ad was made in EDSA Guadalupe

Last Thursday, while "Falcon" was ravaging the Metro Manila with monsoon rains, Coca-Cola Philippines launched the first ever plant billboard in the country, in cooperation with the World Wildlife Fund, in its commitment to protect the Philippine watersheds.

Fukien Tea Plants that absorbs CO2

The 60 x 60 ft. plant billboard, located along Northbound EDSA-Forbes, utilizes a thriving species of Fukien tea plant, which absorbs air pollutants. According to botanist Anthony Gao, each plant can absorb up to 13 pounds of carbon dioxide in a year, on the average. “This billboard helps alleviate air pollution within its proximate areas as it can absorb a total of 46,800 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, on estimate.” Gao says.

This is a refreshing scene in the advertising industry. It's a mixture of corporate responsibility and advertising, and not just any form of creative execution but also a useful installation in the metro to contribute in the country's fight against the smog in Metro Manila.

Enchong Dee, Guillermo Aponte of Coca-Cola Philippines, and WWF Philippines, CEO and Vice Chairman

It just makes me wonder, what will happen after the lease of the ad space is over? It's beautiful, it's environmental-friendly (even environmentally helpful) but how do we sustain brilliant ideas such as these? I do hope they have these tea plants will be placed somewhere after the ad run.