Pacifica Beauty's Sustainable Triumph: Transforming a Typo into a Powerful Campaign
Errors are a commonplace occurrence in the beauty industry on a daily basis. While a minor typo in a digital advertisement or on social media can be swiftly corrected or removed, a packaging error holds the potential to result in substantial financial losses for beauty brands, running into hundreds of thousands of dollars, and generating significant waste.
Clean beauty brand Pacifica Beauty recently navigated an unforeseen packaging error in its 2023 holiday set, where a typo altered the intended message from "You are so pretty" to "You are os pretty." Rather than discarding the mislabeled products, Pacifica Beauty seized the opportunity to address the issue of household waste, which surges by over 25% during the holiday season.
In response, the brand launched the "One Typo = One Tree" campaign, in collaboration with the non-profit environmental charity One Tree Planted, dedicated to global reforestation. For every mislabeled holiday skincare set sold, Pacifica commits to planting one tree, aligning with its commitment to sustainability.
Brook Harvey-Taylor, CEO and founder of Pacifica Beauty, spoke with BeautyMatter about the incident, acknowledging that mistakes are inevitable in the production process. She stated, "Even though several of us review all packaging artwork, sometimes, when you look at a project for so long, it’s the most glaring mistake you just miss. And this is one of those rare times."
Facing a situation where thousands of gift boxes bore the two-letter typo, Harvey-Taylor and her team decided against disposing of the packaging, recognizing it contradicted Pacifica Beauty’s sustainability ethos and presented significant financial implications. Instead, they opted to embrace the imperfection and turn it into a learning opportunity, reinforcing their commitment to positive contributions to the planet.
Harvey-Taylor emphasized, "Our core value is compassion for people, planet, and animals. We see sustainability as an act of compassion, and it guides everything we do, from our ingredient and packaging choices to how we show up in the world as a brand."
Pacifica Beauty's approach aligns with a broader trend in the industry where brands leverage mistakes as opportunities. Notably, KraveBeauty transformed a manufacturing error into a limited-edition body wash, promoting the "Waste Me Not" campaign to address the beauty industry's hidden waste problem.
Harvey-Taylor highlighted the significance of conscious packaging choices in Pacifica Beauty's mission, stating, "Conscious packaging choices have been part of our core DNA since day one, so I think any opportunity to connect with our consumers about the smarter choices we can all make every day is aligned [with] our mission."
The "One Typo = One Tree" campaign is the latest addition to Pacifica Beauty's sustainability initiatives. The brand has already made strides in reducing plastic use by replacing it with aluminum or glass, achieving a ~54% reduction since 2020. Moreover, Pacifica Beauty has increased its post-consumer plastic content from 19% in 2019 to over 68% today.
Harvey-Taylor emphasized the brand's commitment to ongoing improvement, stating, "We will constantly work to do better as there are more innovative solutions coming from suppliers."
Consumers interested in supporting Pacifica Beauty’s initiative can purchase the Face Wash Stars Cleansing Kit or the Bright Stars for Glowing Skin Skincare Set, both featuring the typo on the outer packaging. The "One Typo = One Tree" campaign commenced on Giving Tuesday (November 28) and will run through December 31, 2023.
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