JKR

I do, that’s the problem – but do you find you cut some brands more slack than others? That in fact the more you respect a brand the more you ask of it? I have loved National Geographic since I was a kid. I’m not sure if its photography is always the very best in the world, but put that yellow frame around an image and the image itself is elevated in my mind. As a magazine it reveals the beauty, drama and fragility of life on Earth in each issue. It’s on these high standards that it has been able to diversify into retail, television channels etc. And the yellow frame has become an instantly recognisable badge which is flexible enough to look great in myriad brand contexts. That  yellow frame is a promise of quality and gravitas.

So these Ambi Pur natural scents which team up with the National Geographic brand raise some questions for me. I can see the product to natural expert fit. And I get that the outer packaging is recyclable. But this still feels like a far from green initiative. So why worry? After all, it’s not like there aren’t plenty of these things around, and all National Geographic is doing is endorsing another one. But that’s the trouble with brands which have values, and brands that get you to love them. When you feel like they aren’t being true to their principles, one can get a bit emotional. Perhaps the magazine has no control over such deals. In which case, it’s risking its good reputation by appearing to be happy to sell their good name to things where the fit to values seems curious. I guess the point I am making is that once a brand shows an awareness on certain issues, it has to also act on that awareness. As my boss Andy Knowles often says “ a principle is only a principle when it costs you money”. And ironically, values aside, this does look like a somewhat arbitrary use of the National Geographic logo on the packaging.