Levi’s Encourages Its Fans to ‘Unlock Water’

Yesterday, March 22, the planet celebrated World Water Day, and it was a great opportunity for the jeans brand Levi’s to remind consumers about its commitment to save water and engage them in a new online activity, which raises awareness about the vital drinking water issues. The new interactive WaterTank game, launched on Facebook, encourages users to ‘unlock’ clean water by taking up various challenges ranging from tweeting to answering related questions. The key element of the interactive project is Levi’s Water<Less jeans, a collection of denim made by using less water during the finishing process, which was launched in January 2011 and is helping to save millions of liters of water.

The digital liters of water will be turned into real ones with the help of the Water.org non-profit, which for over twenty years has been assisting in delivering clean and drinkable water through sustainable water and sanitation services to communities in need. Through WaterTank, Levi’s is going to donate $250,000 to the organization to support its programs, and as the company’s press release states, the money generated with the help of people from all around the globe will fund at least 200 million liters of water to people in needy areas.

Consumers can participate in the project by taking various actions (each ‘gives’ different amount of water) which include: pledging to use water more sustainably, inviting friends to play the WaterTank game, answering water related questions online, donating money to Water.org, tweeting a message with the #waterless hashtag, liking the Levi’s brand on Facebook, scanning a QR code and check-in to any Levi’s venue across the U.S., and watching the dedicated video online (it will be released on April 14). The game also provides Facebook users with a chance to win Levi’s Water<Less jeans, plus one of the participants and his or her friend will be invited to visit community receiving access to clean water from Water.org to see with their own eyes how fun and socially-minded activities in digital world can bring changes in the real one.

«We’re proud of the innovations we’ve made in using less water to create our iconic products,» said Robert Hanson, President, Global Levi’s brand. «But we know that some of the biggest impacts on the environment actually comes after our consumers take our products home. We need everyone’s help to reduce our global water footprint—and deliver this excess water to those communities that need it most

The other eco-themed projects by the brand include the ‘Care Tag for Our Planet’ campaign, through which the brand educated consumers on how to reduce the environmental impact of their clothes and the ‘Care to Air’ competition challenging people to develop new ways of drying apparel without a drier.