Virgin Mobile USA Celebrates An Arbor Day Without Wasteful Wireless Paper Bills
22 April 2006
This Arbor Day (April 28th), squirrels, birds and deer everywhere will be going wild for the nation's top youth-oriented wireless provider! Virgin Mobile USA announced today that Pay As You Go wireless saves approximately 100 trees per month -- or, over 1,100 trees per year! (Source: Virgin Mobile USA and howstuffworks.com).
Although Virgin Mobile is one of the nation's largest Pay As You Go wireless providers, the company does not issue paper bills or statements. According to wireless industry analyst estimates, U.S. wireless carriers send out approximately 126,884,000 wireless bills every month to their customers. If each of those roughly 126 million bills includes just 2 pages, total paper used per month for wireless bills alone totals over 253,768,000 pages. According to howstuffworks.com, each tree yields approximately 80,500 sheets of paper, so wireless providers are chewing through something like 3,153 trees each month. That's 37,836 trees per year!
Instead, customers can find their account history online at http://www.virginmobileusa.com and their balance on their mobile phones. "We're interested in the topics and issues that are most compelling to our audience, and keeping the environment safe is certainly at the top of that list," said Bob Stohrer, vice president of brand and communications for Virgin Mobile USA. "This is just another example of why Virgin Mobile's Pay As You Go service is a great alternative to standard plans and monthly bills."
THE WOOD PECKER, THE BEAVER ... AND THE PAPER BILL
To celebrate Arbor Day and illustrate Virgin Mobile's role in curtailing that, Mother New York and David Frankham of Smuggler produced and directed six 30-second ad spots and one 60-second ad spot airing exclusively online and on MTV. As the spots open, the idyll of a wild forest setting -- replete with gentle forest creatures (of the stuffed variety) -- is suddenly jarred by the threat of chainsaws aiming for these furry friends' leafy homes. The courageous critters refuse to go peacefully into the night, chaining themselves to a tree to protest the production of yet another ton of paper wireless phone bills.
The Save the Trees spots will begin airing today on television and online at myspace.com. While they draw laughs, they also aim to leave viewers thinking seriously about conservation and the impact that those monthly paper invoices have on America's forests.
"The tone of the spots is tongue-in-cheek, but the destruction of trees isn't really a laughing matter," Stohrer said. "We're proud that Virgin Mobile can do its part of help protect one of our greatest natural resources."
About Virgin Mobile USA, LLC:
Launched nationally in July of 2002, Virgin Mobile USA, LLC is the nation's first wireless network created for and defined by youth. Virgin Mobile is a joint venture between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Sprint Nextel, which operates one of the largest 100-percent digital, nationwide PCS wireless networks in the United States. The country's first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), Virgin Mobile's four million customers have access to a service portfolio that includes multiple voice pricing options, a full range of handsets and a broad array of messaging, music and mobile content offerings -- without long-term contracts. In addition, J.D. Power and Associates has recognized Virgin Mobile for providing "An Outstanding Customer Service Experience" under its Certified Call Center Program.(SM)
Virgin Mobile phones are available at more than 25,000 stores, with Top-Up cards available at more than 80,000 locations nationwide. Virgin Mobile products can also be purchased online at http://www.virginmobileusa.com or by calling Virgin Mobile At Your Service (1-888-322-1122).
Source: prnewswire
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