KitKat Drops Logo & Encourages Recycling

KitKat has temporarily dropped its recognisable logo in Australia in favour of a recycling symbol, in order to encourage Australians to recycle more packaging. The new logo, displayed on packs of the much-loved four-finger chocolate-covered wafer bars (a hero product for food brand Nestlé) is accompanied by the tagline ‘Give the Planet a Break’.
The move comes after research by KitKat found 43% of Australians are recycling incorrectly (InsideFMCG, 2020).The campaign is supported with in-store red recycling bins in select supermarkets into which empty soft plastic wrappers can be dropped, along with a host of similar recyclable packaging (such as bread bags and frozen food bags).
This is a smart way for an FMCG brand to push out an eco-positive message while still aligning with its core principles and personality. And it isn’t the first time a chocolate brand in Australia has prioritised the environment above traditional brand identity.
As covered in Post-Covid Packaging for Amplified Categories & Causes, Cadbury in Australia recently replaced its Freddo the Frog symbol on its Dairy Freddo chocolate packs with images of real-life frog species nearing extinction in the country (a scenario unfortunately accelerated by the bushfires earlier this year). The packs were imbued with augmented reality to educate consumers about this cause.
For an earlier eco-packaging initiative, see KitKat Japan’s Origami Packaging Reduces Plastic. And for more on the environmentally aligned future of packaging, see Mainstreaming Eco Packaging and The Logistics of Less.
For more on the wider snacking landscape, see Upstreaming Everyday Edibles and Snack Trends 2020: Product Focus.