Wall*E + Kleenex = Iron*E

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In what must surely be the absolute height of tragic irony, Kimberly-Clark is using a movie about conservation to sell Kleenex, a disposable paper product containing absolutely no recycled content.

Disney/Pixar's new animated film Wall*E is set in a distant future when the Earth is barren of all life forms and humans have survived only by leaving the wasted planet to live in outer space. The sole inhabitant of planet Earth in this doomsday scenario is Wall*E, a lovable but lonely robot that has been tasked with cleaning up the mess us humans left behind. If you've seen the movie, you probably got the same thrill out of its environmental theme as us here at Greenpeace. Meanwhile, the movie's smashing success at the box office is a clear indicator that its message resonates with Americans' concerns for the future.

That's why it's perplexing to see that K-C is featuring Wall*E on boxes of Kleenex. If you look on the bottom of these boxes, you'll see a little recycled symbol that says: "This box is made from 100% recycled paper." What you won't see on the bottom of that box is a message telling you that the tissues inside it are made from centuries-old trees that were cut from forests that had been around for as much as 10,000 years - until K-C came along with its clearcutting practices, that is. Nor will the box tell you that K-C refuses to use any recycled material in Kleenex even though doing so would save huge areas of ancient forests.

Wall*E + Kleenex = Iron*E

For the past few years, Greenpeace has been running the Kleercut campaign to pressure K-C to stop devastating ancient forests. Naturally, we couldn't let K-C's blatant attempt to use Wall*E as a means of greenwashing Kleenex's image go by without comment. So we commissioned celebrated political cartoonist Mark Fiore to create an animated movie of our own.

Our animated short features a new character called Kleer*E who gobbles up forests and spits out boxes of Kleenex. He is a precursor to Wall*E, who spends his days cleaning up a world where all the forests (and animals and people) are gone, a world where nothing is left but trash and empty boxes. Like Kleer*E, Kimberly-Clark is working to bring you that world, one box of Kleenex - and one forest - at a time.

In order to make sure K-C's attempts at deceiving the public are unsuccessful, we need to band together to get the truth out about the company's dishonest marketing. Help save the world's ancient forests by viewing the Kleer*E video and then telling all your friends and family about it. The more people who are aware of K-C's destructive business practices and refuse to buy Kleenex or other disposable products made by the company, the sooner they'll change their ways.

Join us in telling K-C to stop the Iron*E! Instead of putting money towards looking like they're "green," the company needs to actually become green by improving their environmental practices. Specifically, they need to stop clearcutting ancient forests and start using recycled material in Kleenex and other consumer paper products. And when they do have to use virgin pulp, they should be sourcing it sustainably through the Forest Stewardship Council.

If we stop Kimberly-Clark from destroying any more of the world's ancient forests, we will be able to avoid the dismal fate depicted in Wall*E. Untold future generations will surely thank us for giving them hope and a healthy planet to live on.

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