Just this morning, only a day or so after writing my previous blog about the idea of “fun and fame” being the key to using our brains for positive change I ran across a public-service campaign called “Wasting Water is Weird.” It features a quiz to find out just how ‘weird” you are when it comes to water use, along with a fictional; character called “Rip the Drip,” whom you can find on Facebook (“I have discovered my mortal enemy – evaporation. Its heartless destruction of water is unforgivable….how can I take down this invisible scourge?”) or follow on Twitter. I loved that concept, so I followed the thread and was both surprised and delighted to find one of the companies behind the campaign is Kohler (in partnership with Lowe’s, Bosch and P&G).
Now, I have purchased many faucets over the years from Kohler, but never was particularly aware of its corporate philosophy and values before making this discovery– and I have to tell you, I am impressed. First and foremost, the company identifies itself with the Gracious Living ideal, and that tells you a lot. It puts me in mind of working with HRH Prince Charles and Clarence House on sustainability messaging, and the prince’s observation that sustainability is about beauty, and that nature is beautiful. A similar feeling of harmony was aroused in me by I the introduction to the Kohler web site, which note how “gracious living is marked by qualities of charm, good taste and generosity of spirit” and “is further characterized by self-fulfillment and the enhancement of nature.”
But now, in addition to having found its true north in the Gracious Living concept, Kohler has managed to add fun to the equation. It’s something from which all corporations could take a lesson – the fact that you don’t have to be stodgy to be a class act. And if you want to know just how effective such an approach is, you need go no further than the official web site of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which talks all about the “Wasting Water is Weird” campaign on its WaterSense Partnership program page . It seems that now, even the government is getting into the “fun and fame” spirit!
So I say kudos to Kohler and the Kohler family for combining charm and good taste with “fun and fame.”