SPEND TO MEND THE WORLD SAYS AUSSIE ORGANISATION
In something of a David and Goliath move, Australian social enterprise Thankyou has sent an invitation to both P&G and Unilever – two of the world’s largest and most influential consumer goods companies – to make and distribute Thankyou products globally to help end extreme poverty.
This should resonate with South Africans who recently saw massive protests when an offensive advertisement showcasing Unilever’s Tresemmé hair products was published on the Clicks website.
Both on home soil and beyond, consumers are increasingly demanding brand accountability as well as supporting manufacturers that support sustainability and social change.
To add a little more impetus to its bold move, Thankyou is now appealing to people across the globe to join their movement to flip consumerism and change the world.
Thankyou was founded in 2008 by a group of university students and, in only 12 years, has grown into a movement of millions of people taking small steps to create big change. Thankyou’s highly engaged community successfully petitioned the two largest supermarkets in Australia to stock Thankyou’s personal care and baby product ranges.
Currently, Thankyou only sells its products in two of the world’s smallest countries – Australia and New Zealand. But, with COVID-19 increasing both global poverty numbers and demand for personal care products such as hand sanitiser, the company feels that now is the time to expand, quickly.
If either P&G or Unilever choose to accept Thankyou’s invitation, they could help change the course of history and route millions of consumer dollars to ending extreme poverty.
Thankyou has set up virtual meetings with both P&G and Unilever to take place at the end of the campaign. On November 5, Thankyou will announce globally which partner is “in” on one of the largest digital billboards in the world, in New York City’s Times Square.
To date, Thankyou has raised over AUD$17 million (approximately R204 million) for impact partners serving the world’s poorest populations, helping over 857,000 people in need in 22 countries.
Their partners, which span over 14 organizations, address water, health, sanitation, economic development programs, maternal and child health programs in low-income communities. The sectors that Thankyou’s impact partners work across differ from partner to partner, but they all focus on tackling extreme poverty (people living on less than $1.90 or R23 a day). Thankyou reaches as many impoverished communities as possible by giving to multiple partners who work across multiple sectors, all focused on tackling extreme poverty.
With $63 trillion spent on consumer goods each year while 736 million people are stuck in extreme poverty, we believe that business as usual is broken.”
That’s according to Daniel Flynn, who founded Thankyou in 2008 along with Justine Flynn and Jarryd Burns.
“But we also believe that we, together with people and a partnership with one of the two biggest companies in the world, can change this by funnelling the dollars spent on consumer goods into helping end extreme poverty,” he continues.
To convince these multinational companies to take this bold move, Thankyou is asking people around the world to get involved and add their voices to the initial invitation that was sent.
“For P&G and Unilever to say “I’m in” and work with Thankyou to flip the system, they need to see the collective impact of voices around the world rallying around one movement in the name of ending extreme poverty,” says Flynn.
Thankyou was created to close the gap between the 736 million people living in extreme poverty around the world and the $63 trillion spent on consumer products each year.
After all the costs involved in getting great products to consumers are taken care of, every last cent that Thankyou makes goes toward ending extreme poverty. With this model, Thankyou seeks to flip consumerism…for good.”
To join Thankyou and show support, people can utilize their social media channels and follow these steps:
- Post a photo or share the campaign social title with the caption, “I’m in, are you?”
- Tag @proctergamble and @unilever
- Hashtag #thankyoutotheworld
- Share Thankyou’s video to help this spread even further
