WALL-E and Target are for the Trees
Yesterday was the official DVD/Blu-ray release of Disney/Pixar's acclaimed hit WALL-E. If you've seen the film then you already know that one of the major themes concerns the care of our planet and what will come from our society of want and waste- but in a fun way.It's kind of ironic that while the film concerns matters of the environment that most store tie-ins associated with it consist of nothing more than random pieces of junk. Not so for Target. Target has a special code on their DVDs and Blu-ray sets that you can enter online to receive a free tree seedling that will be delivered to your home (quantities limited; no rain checks).
Plants play a pivotal role in the film (and, of course, our survival). Does that need a spoiler alert? I don't think so. You knew plants were important, right? The promotion by Target is a clever one, but wouldn't it have made more sense for it to occur during a warmer time of year- say around Arbor Day?
Either way, we applaud the spirit of the promotion (and the movie) and hope that some of those seedlings make it through December.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-03-2009 @ 12:07PM
Mike said...
In regards to the tree seedling's sent on behalf of Target with the Wall-E DVD. It seems that they not only are being sent in December, where the ground is frozen, but are sent in large 10" cardboard tubes. It seems to me that they easily could of sent this in a 5" tube... anyways, I am not sure I am too pleased having received a tree seedling anymore.
Reply
1-05-2009 @ 5:02PM
julie said...
I lost the info on how to obtain the tree. Do you still have the address or website address?
thanks
1-12-2009 @ 8:05AM
nabziF said...
Julie: the site was http://wall-etree.com, but the promo appears to be over. I hope you entered your code in time.
We received our tree a few days ago, Black Hills Spruce. I've read online other people receiving other species (presumably different types sent to addresses in different climate zones, according to the supplier http://www.mailatree.com). I imagine they buy the tubes in bulk, and likely don't have an economical way to customize the tube size to the height of each tree (ours nearly filled the tube). At any rate, it came with instructions for planting in each season (to plant inside for winter, for example).
I doubt any landfills will reach capacity over this (limited time offer, only at Target after all)...but certainly they could have used shorter tubes. For that matter, they could have saved postage/carbon footprint by shipping seeds in tiny envelopes nigh bigger than a stamp. In fact, they could have just given you a coupon to print out, redeemable at your nearest tree nursery so that you could walk 3 miles to it and thus save *all* shipping/carbon costs (well, except for the paper required to print the coupon). Or maybe a lame promise that "we will plant one tree for every DVD sold"...etc. While we're at it, we should demand that production of DVDs/players and TVs cease, and that all entertainment be beamed directly to our brains -- oh, what? You bought this DVD? You contributed to the problem you're complaining about?
Purchasing this DVD (whose discs and packaging are mass produced by the ton) and then complaining about a bit of excess packaging on the promo (carbon-consuming) tree that a fraction of 1% of people will even get anyway, is a bit like accusing McDonalds of not having 100% fat-free salads -- after just having eaten a Big Mac and large fries.
I think they can be forgiven the few extra inches of wasted tubing for the fact that this is one of the coolest, greenest DVD store exclusives I've seen (sourced from a green company, no less). Certainly more inspiring and engaging than the plethora of other exclusive plastic crap out there. It's primary purpose was to spur sales, sure...but just imagine the impression this could make on a child when it arrives. How often can one tell their classmates on show-and-tell day that they just got a friggin tree in the mail? A *tree*! According to arborday.org, our little tree could grow to 60 feet, and live 150 years.
I think this little gem of a promo is just the sort of small, consumerist sentiment that can serve as a "gateway" to get people interested without sacrificing their entire way of life. People who were just feeding their entertainment fix, who otherwise wouldn't have thought twice about the environment. A few weeks later, boom - they're planting trees. It's a start. I think that's worth a few inches of cardboard.