The effort comes as the coronavirus pandemic sets up a scenario where consumers could be more interested than ever in caring for the environment as the health crisis winds down while simultaneously having higher expectations around brands' ability to support sustainability issues.
Black Forest is among the brands that have developed social media campaigns that urge people to participate in a collective effort to help the environment. Nestlé, Danone and Post last month participated in mobile shopping app Ibotta's Earth Day campaign to save trees from being turned into paper coupons. Ibotta's website displayed a real-time "tree tracker" showing the effort to plant as many as 1 million trees in the following month. As part of its observance of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, Ibotta collaborated with nonprofit group Trees for the Future to offset the environmental effects of paper coupon production.
Black Forest's cause-driven campaign comes as brands demonstrate their willingness to help customers who worry about their health and personal finances during the coronavirus pandemic, which had a negative effect on candy sales during the key Easter season. Cottonelle, Honda, Michelob Ultra, Rakuten Viber and Snapchat are among the companies that have touted their efforts to provide relief to people during the crisis.