Finessing a time-honored custom with environmental flair, Brita and mcgarrybowen Chicago are offering consumers a chance to celebrate National Ugly Sweater Day with a bright and cheesy new line that calls attention to the urgencies of climate change.
Five of the agency’s in-house designers created sweater designs that blend traditional holiday kitsch with imagery of plastic waste and its impact on the environment.
Each one of the items is tagged with Brita’s Drink Like You Care message.
mcgarrybowen
National Ugly Sweater Day customized fashion line
Snowflake This design rings in the holidays with a snowflake made from bottled water waste and dead fish. The sleeves also feature alternating patterns of bottled water and dead fish.
Faux Cardigan This sweater shows up for the holidays adorned with planet-wrecking bottled water and sad, dead sea life. An underwater scene shows single-use plastic floating amongst dead whales, fish, and turtles.
Ho Ho Hoax This sweater lights up the party with strings of bottled water and dead fish trapped inside. The back features a fun message from Santa: Bottled water is a Ho Ho Hoax.
Ice Caps This sweater chills out in an icy blue winter scene awash with floating plastic waste and a tragically marooned polar bear.
Grandma This cozy sweater is complete with ribbon sleeves and a quilt-patterned front, featuring lots of dead sea life and seahorses trapped inside plastic water bottles.
Behind the loom
mcgarrybowen worked closely with Knitwear Lab, an industrial knitwear manufacturing and design company based in Amsterdam, to produce the sweaters.
Knitwear produced each of the 500 limited-edition sweaters from 80% recycled materials, including 40% recycled plastic, before finishing them with tags featuring Brita’s Drink Like You Care message.
In addition to the sweaters, mcgarrybowen designed and created custom boxes–from recycled materials, of course–to deliver our key messages.
Brita worked with Amazon to create a custom storefront to sell a box containing The Ugliest Ugly Sweater and filtering bottle bundles for $24.99 each. (They’re limited so get yours now!)
Since then, numerous sustainability influencers including eco-conscious celebrity influencer Stephanie Shepherd have expressed support for the effort.
Send your campaign updates to Reel Chicago Editor Dan Patton, dan@reelchicago.com.
