Earlier this week, Heidi Montag (who I totally confused as another one of the handfuls of blonde grifters in Hollywood) appeared to be launching a campaign to promote single-use jeans. The “S1ngle Jeans” product claimed users could “Wear them once, then toss them out.” Worried about landfills, pollution, and climate change? Don’t worry (sarcasm), these claim to be made from “a proprietary blend of form-fitting cotton and recycled plastic.”
Between the new S1ngles Instagram account and Montag’s personal account (even on unrelated posts), hundreds of commenters shamed her or begged that this all be revealed to be a joke. Between this and her talking about eating raw meat (another issue relating to the environment) to get pregnant, it became easy to assume the worst—that being, as a wealthy celebrity, Montag doesn’t have enough people around her telling her “no.” Alongside the massive image campaign on Instagram, in which hers were labeled #ad, S1ngle Jeans promoted their website, which greeted you with this full-screen video.
Montag and the team behind this strung along onlookers for three days before revealing this was all a gag to highlight the hypocrisy of marketing single-use plastics as better for the environment because they (partially or fully) came from recycled material. To put this in perspective, even if the single-use jeans (meaning no water/power for rewash) were truly sustainable (big ask, considering the massive amount of land and water needed to grow cotton and dye fabric), there would still be emissions from packing, shipping, and housing the product.
The big reveal
In partnership with a coalition of foundations (together called Oceana) working to protect and restore ocean environments, they released a follow-up video, and now s1nglesjeans.com redirects to refill-again.com.
In many of the comments before and after the reveal, people remarked that April Fools’ Day was almost two weeks ago, and Earth Day is still a week away. While it was valid to point out before the reveal, it doesn’t really serve many purposes now. Let April Fools’ Day exist for the silly ads. If this came out on April 1, the competing jokes would’ve likely drowned it out. Similarly, this applies to Earth Day. Also, we don’t need to just care about Earth Day on Earth Day. Environmental and cultural days are reminders of things we should be doing all year long—for example, pressuring companies to lessen carbon footprint (beyond just carbon offsetting).
While the companies and legislators are to blame for these environmental issues, you can still do your part. To reduce your carbon footprint regarding jeans, try looking for second-hand jeans, opt for higher quality (more durable and no fast fashion), and wear them for a few days before you wash them.
(via Page Six, image: Oceana and S1ngles Jeans)
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