Apple launches new green energy ad campaign, still finds time to aim a jab at Samsung

The company's 'Better' campaign touts its dedication to sustainability, including the use of 100% renewable energy in its data centres

To coincide with Earth Day Apple has released a new ad campaign touting its environmental credentials - with a quick jab against rival Samsung thrown in for good measure.

The campaign, which highlights various stats such as Apple’s use of renewable energy to power its data centres, includes a full page ad showing a field of the company’s solar panels with the text “There are some ideas we want every company to copy” - a reference to the company’s ongoing patent trial with Samsung.

“There's one area where we actually encourage others to imitate us,” reads the text. “Because when everyone makes the environment a priority, we all benefit.”

The campaign also includes a two-minute video narrated by CEO Tim Cook, who describes the company’s desire to “use greener materials, less packaging; to do everything we can to keep our products out of landfills. Changes that will benefit people as well as the planet.”

Cook has previously nailed his colours to the mast during a question-and-answer session with shareholders, telling an audience that Apple was thinking of more than just return on investment and that it would not be dropping its sustainability plans in order to reap greater profits.

The company’s changes have been praised by environmental groups, with a Greenpeace report on environmental responsibility in Silicon Valley describing Apple as ‘setting a new bar for the industry’. The same report also praised Google and Facebook, although Amazon and its massive data centers were criticized for using only 15 per cent renewable energy.

As well as its servers, Apple has also highlighted the energy consumption of its products, pointing out that the most recent iMac uses 97 per cent less electricity in sleep mode than the first model released in 1998.

However, the company also admits that is still has a lot of work to do. While US-based servers might be running off wind and solar energy, the vast factories in China that actually manufacture iPhones and iMacs are certainly not.

Apple is ahead of its competitors in terms of green credentials but as Lisa Jackson, the company’s vice president of Environmental Initiatives, notes: "We have a long way to go [...] but we are proud of our progress."