Corona x Parley: Protect paradise

bringing change to the beverage industry and protectING paradise from marine plastic pollution

In May 2017, Parley x Corona (AB InBev) announced a partnership to address marine plastic pollution and ‘protect paradise’ through cleanups, awareness campaigns, corporate commitments and initiatives focused on the Parley AIR Strategy:

AVOID PLASTIC WHEREVER POSSIBLE

INTERCEPT PLASTIC WASTE

REDESIGN THE MATERIAL ITSELF

In addition to implementing Parley AIR across the brand, Corona x Parley engaged like-minded ambassadors to represent the partnership in their countries. In 2017, Chris Hemsworth (Australia), Diego Luna (Mexico), Ramon Navarro (Chile) and Nashla Bogaert (Dominican Republic) attended Parley Ocean School in the Maldives, an immersive experience bringing together a variety of different people in the ultimate classroom, the Indian Ocean. Artists, designers, filmmakers, marine biologists, musicians, photographers, and scientists explored the beauty of the oceans and witnessed the negative impact of plastic pollution on life underwater, on uninhabited islands, and in local communities.

The collective experience marked the starting point of a long-term partnership inspired by an idea: Through creative collaboration and eco-innovation, we can fix the design failure that is plastic pollution. Together Corona (AB InBev), Parley, and creative change-makers from around the world collaborated to take action against marine plastic pollution on 100 islands, and through a series of initiatives that engaged new audiences in solutions and demonstrated how Parley AIR can be adapted to drive change through a global brand and across the beverage industry.

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100 ISLANDS PROTECTED

To bring awareness to the global issue of marine plastic pollution and share the vision of the Corona x Parley “100 islands protected” project, the WSL championship tour event “Corona Bali Pro” was renamed to “Corona Bali Protected.” This name change sounded the alarm on one of the biggest threats to the survival of the world’s oceans: marine plastic pollution. It stands for the vision of turning Bali into a pilot project, a blueprint for solving this global environmental issue by implementing the Parley AIR Strategy. While the pros competed, a series of programs took place on the shorelines to confront and help combat the realities of marine plastic pollution.

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PLASTIC-FREE SIX PACK RINGS

About 40 percent of plastic produced worldwide goes to packaging, items intended to be used once and then discarded. One notorious example: plastic six pack rings, which harm life in the oceans. It’s not enough to recycle plastic. We need to avoid and replace it wherever possible. And we need to develop and test viable, scalable alternatives to succeed. Parley sees the winning formula for creating long-term change in creativity, collaboration and eco-innovation guided by the Parley AIR Strategy: Avoid, Intercept, Redesign. As a key partner of Parley, Corona shares our vision of moving beyond plastics through a material revolution. Building on their prior commitments to support and implement Parley AIR and protect 100 islands around the world by 2020, Corona is now the first global brand to trial plastic-free six pack rings.

A simple switch like this can have a massive impact on the beverage industry, with a ripple effect to the benefit of the living ecosystem our economic system and basic survival depend on: the oceans. The plastic-free rings were made from paper materials which are not harmful to wildlife. This marked one more step forward in the movement to end marine plastic pollution —  another example of how we can work together to end the problematic materials, methods and thinking that cause the destruction.

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CORONA X PARLEY: THE FISH

In honor of Earth Day, Corona x Parley joined forces with Academy Award nominated animator Adam Pessane, better-known as PES, to release a stop-motion animation illustrating the dangers of marine plastic pollution on marine wildlife and the paradises we are working to protect.

Each year 100,000 marine mammals are killed by marine pollution. 90 percent of seabirds and more than half the world’s sea turtles have plastic in their stomachs. Dead whales wash ashore with bellies full of our trash. Marine life that has thrived for millions of years in the oceans is now threatened by our actions and design failures. Awareness is growing, yet more than 11 million metric tons of plastic pollution still enter the world’s oceans every year – over a truckload every minute. Earth Day provides a moment to reflect on the impact this plastic has on wildlife and our own well-being.  

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Street Surfers

How can we drive solutions in landlocked cities and communities? One approach: by telling the stories of people who are on the frontlines. In collaboration with Corona x Parley and our joint mission to Protect Paradise, big wave surfer Frank Solomon and the filmmakers at Eyeforce take the movement to South Africa with a series spotlighting those who work to protect the oceans and end marine plastic pollution.

Devland, Soweto, is an informal settlement in Johannesburg that hosts an underground community of ‘surfers’ championing activism hundreds of kilometers from the waves. Waste-pickers known as street surfers collect up to 90 percent of the recyclables from households in South Africa, all while struggling to make ends meet. In Street Surfers, we follow Frank as he meets Mokete and Thabo, and explore an untold story of new friendships, shared experiences and common interest between individuals that are worlds apart.

“I think very few people know that places like this even exist.”

FRANK SOLOMON, SURFER

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 “We needed to take a stand and protect the heart and soul of our brand. We will spread our love for the oceans and make people understand that we need to take care of it, inspiring people to change their own behaviors. Corona is present in more than 180 countries and we have the opportunity and the responsibility to use that reach to be a voice for the oceans.”

THIAGO ZANETTINI — GLOBAL VICE PRESIDENT, CORONA

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