14 DAY TRIAL // As it continues with its environmental campaign painting store logos in green and iterating all its efforts on a new micro-site published this week, Apple has released print ads that take direct jabs at its competition, saying it doesn’t mind seeing all its ideas used by copycats.
As the Apple-Samsung patent dispute over design similarities continues, the California computer company has released a bevy of information about its latest environmental endeavors, such as the fact that almost 90 percent of its offices/facilities now use green energy and its data centers are 100% powered with solar panels, wind turbines, biogas, and geothermal energy sources.
A letter from Lisa Jackson, vice president of Environmental Initiatives, and a video narrated by CEO Tim Cook himself are just two of the big-picture efforts made by Apple this week to convey the issue to the public.
Another one, available in print (i.e. newspapers, magazines) states, “There are some ideas we want every company to copy.”
Taking a direct jab at competitors in the smartphone space, the ad continues with Apple stating, “There’s one area where we actually encourage others to imitate us. Because when everyone makes the environment a priority, we all benefit.”
“We’d be more than happy to see every data centre fuelled by 100% renewable energy sources. And we eagerly await the day when every product is made without the harmful toxins we have removed from ours.”
Apple admits it still has a lot of work to do to achieve its goals: “Of course we know we can continue to do better. We’ve set some pretty ambitious goals for reducing our impact on climate change, making our products with greener materials and conserving our planet’s limited resources. So the next time we come across a great idea that can help leave the world better than we found it, we look forward to sharing.”
Not coincidentally, the company has ordered out these ads to appear on Earth Day, an annual event that demonstrates support for environmental protection. Kickstarted in the ‘70s, Earth Day is now celebrated globally (in almost 200 countries) every year.
One of the things Apple has highlighted as part of the Environment micro-site is the fact that today’s iMac uses 0.9 watt of electricity in sleep mode, which is 97 percent less than the first model shipped by the Cupertino giant. Visit Apple’s Environment site for the full scoop.