Plastic pollution is and has always been a serious environmental issue. The sheer volume of plastic waste generated every year is staggering, invading our seas, rivers and cities, causing severe impact on the environment and putting all our futures at risk.

With over 20 billion plastic toothpaste tubes manufactured each year, Colgate, being the #1 penetrated toothpaste brand in the world, is also one of the world’s top 10 plastic polluters.

As a brand that believes everyone deserves a future they can smile about. We know we are part of the problem, and we are motivated to be part of the solution.

After 5 years of R&D, Colgate was able to combine layers of High-density polyethylene (HDPE) to make the world’s first recyclable toothpaste tube. We are making the technology available to everyone and inviting industry peers, partners and mass consumers to join the fight against plastic waste.

To solve this serious plastic waste problem, we are serious about finding the solution.

Developing a recyclable tube is only the baby step. We knew that the only way to make a real difference was if we can bring everyone together to work towards the same goal. Therefore, we created the campaign “Share The Answers” as our platform, making the recyclable tube technology accessible to everyone and inviting everyone to join in this fight against a serious problem in a light-hearted way.

We are optimistic that if we come together to share the solution and actively be part of the solution. Then we can all have a future we can smile about.

With this exciting innovation coming in, we wanted to share this solution with as many people as possible. While sustainability and fighting against plastic waste has always been a serious environmental topic in the news, we would like to seriously make this fight relatable and actionable with everyone.

Talking about the serious consequences of plastic waste could be scary and anxious, explaining the process of recyclable tube development could seem complicated and dull, so we chose to take a light-hearted approach. Contrary to seriousness, we leverage comedy and jokes which can easily resonate with all parties - peers, partners and consumers.

Through recycling jokes and the mouth of comedian, we revealed the technology and the environmental benefit from the perspective of a recyclable tube and amplified locally with informative and engaging content, powering up for the goal to achieve 100% recyclable tube transition by 2025.

First launched in Australia with our superstar Colley - the fun, quirky “gag mascot” of our 1st recyclable toothpaste tube is the protagonist of the campaign across Meta, YouTube and TikTok. She proudly tells the unique feature of herself as a recyclable tube while seamlessly “trashing-talking” the non-recyclable one. We also had Colley’s happy face at offline retail stands to drive attention and purchase.

Locally, in Australia, we chose to partner with Vice Media to create a series with local comedian Aaron Gocs under the platform of “Comedians Talking Trash”. The series revealed the stage of where we have reached in Australia’s fight against plastic waste at three levels - Community, Industry, and Policy.

At the same time, we worked with AdGreen to keep track of the Carbon Footprint so we can produce and distribute our marketing assets in a more sustainable way.