HSBC’s Lumberjack Ad: Pitting Tree Sitters Against Loggers
This 2008 ad for HSBC portrays the conflict between tree-sitters (activists trying to stop deforestation of old-growth forests) and loggers. It closes with the phrase: “We recognise how people value things differently. So what we learn from one customer helps us better serve another.” Students can be encouraged to explore the environmental values being represented in the ad and discuss how it relates to HSBC’s financial policies and environmental impacts. This can also be used to explore and discuss differing environmental ideologies.