To kick off the partnership between ABOUT YOU and Klarna, the two companies are launching a campaign with a clear message on June 1st, 2022, for which the Berlin advertising agency DOJO is responsible. With the campaign and the provocative title ‘F**k Mars’, the fashion online shop and the payment and shopping provider address one of the most important topics of today and want to encourage sustainable action and commitment. The joint campaign shows in a whimsical and humorous way why Earth is more livable than Mars.
Respecting the environment, taking responsibility and thus maintaining a healthy earth – these are the values that the companies ABOUT YOU and Klarna share. With its holistic sustainability strategy, the global fashion e-commerce company ABOUT YOU makes its contribution to a sustainable fashion industry and supports its customers with the continuous expansion of the second-hand range and the more sustainable brands in conscious and responsible consumption. Klarna also focuses on sustainable action by promoting the environmental awareness and knowledge of its employees, customers and partners: this includes, for example, the CO2 tracker in the Klarna app, which customers use their individual CO2 footprint when shopping and thus sensitizes for more environmental awareness. With Give One, Klarna has launched an initiative to support projects to protect the planet. In addition, Klarna launched curated sustainable collections earlier this year, which create more transparency for consumers when it comes to sustainable fashion and help them to make informed purchasing decisions.
As part of their partnership in the DACH region, the fashion online shop and the payment and shopping provider are now using their reach and community to draw attention to the topic of sustainability. The joint campaign ‘F**k Mars’ is intended to show customers the absurdity of space tourism in a provocative but humorous way and to make it clear that the focus should not be on colonizing other planets, but on preserving the earth through sustainable action. In the course of this, the campaign refers to the shop category Second Love at ABOUT YOU and the new “Pay Later 30” payment option by Klarna.
“We are delighted to announce the partnership between ABOUT YOU and Klarna with such a strong campaign that reflects our shared vision on sustainability. It also serves to inform our customers that the variety of payment methods from Klarna makes the shopping experience at ABOUT YOU even easier and more flexible,” says Hannes Wiese, Co-Founder & Co-CEO at ABOUT YOU.
ABOUT YOU and Klarna brought the DOJO advertising agency on board to create the campaign. The well-known creative agency was inspired by the race to see who lands on Mars first: “Of course, we too ask ourselves the question of how we deal with the finite resources of our earth. But instead of dealing with Mars right now, we should strive to make our actions here on earth more sustainable. Because if we’re being completely honest: our planet is actually really cool. We’ve made that the core of our ‘F**k Mars’ campaign and want to tell inspirational stories, not dystopian ones,” says Jan Thltges, Head of Brand & Account Management at DOJO.
In addition to three commercials, the campaign also includes activations on social media, online and out-of-home advertising. The highlight of the concept is an LED screen on the Ku’damm in Berlin, which is used extensively. In the TV spot, rap artist Reezy, content creator and activist Wana Limar and TikTok creator Bao Chii are staged in a constructed Mars setting in which they are confronted with various life-threatening aspects of the planet. A humorous voiceover explains the realities of Mars and the importance of focusing on preserving Earth. At the end of each film, the link to sustainable purchasing decisions is drawn and the Second Love category is presented on aboutyou.de. In this way, DOJO and director Ingrid Johannson combine Klarna’s courageous approach and ABOUT YOU’s direct, young style and develop their own art style for the campaign, which is so original and unique that the spot has great potential to go viral.
Inspired by the whimsical videos and visuals of their Martian idols, fans can then shop for looks from the Second Love and More Sustainable category on ABOUT YOU. Reezy, Wana Limar and Bao Chii as well as a support crew of ten other content creators spread the important ‘F**k Mars’ message among their young, fashion-savvy community and refer to the sustainable categories of the fashion online shop and Klarna’s easy payment methods .
Campaigns of this magnitude cause CO2 emissions, for example through the use of energy resources. Therefore, for the project, the media plan was examined for its climate damage with the help of Admosfy and made CO2 neutral through compensation. Admosfy enables the implementation of climate-neutral media campaigns and is a solution from the GroupM agency group, which also includes the supporting media agency MediaCom. “We are currently at the beginning of a global transformation process towards a sustainable and conscious shopping culture. With the campaign and the cooperation with Admosfy, we want to push this forward and underline that both companies are committed to responsible action. We share the same values when it comes to the future of shopping. Circular fashion and the best possible customer experience are integral parts that are at the heart of our partnership,” says Jani Tyyni, Head of Central & Northern Europe at Klarna.