It's results on track may have been little short of disastrous at times, but the
Honda Racing
F1 team finally came good by scooping two prestigious prizes at the 2007 Green Awards.
Applauded and derided in near equal measure at its pre-season launch, the team's environmental 'myearthdream' initiative won the category of Best PR Campaign with a budget of over £100k at the London Guildhall ceremony, beating off strong competition from Marks & Spencer and Procter & Gamble.
The campaign then went on to compete for the Grand Prix award for the best overall campaign, along with the 18 other winners on the night - including British Sky Broadcasting, DEFRA, Transport for London,
The Guardian, Marks & Spencer and the Carbon Trust - and came out on top for the second time, as judges acclaimed it as the campaign which 'best exemplified an outstanding environmental message and had the greatest capacity to raise awareness amongst the general public'.
"[The campaign] was the most creative all-round, with a multiplicity of messages," confirmed Eric Falt, director of communications for the United Nations Environment Programme and chairman of the Green Awards judging panel, "It was an imaginative response which really got people thinking and had many re-appraise their relationship with
Formula One."
"It is a fantastic achievement for the Honda Racing F1 Team to receive such recognition," team CEO Nick Fry commented, "We are delighted to be in the company of so many outstanding organisations dedicated to protecting the environment through the highest calibre marketing campaigns.
"The aim of our myearthdream initiative was to use the global reach of Formula One to raise awareness and create debate of environmental issues around the world
and we have been very successful in accomplishing that goal in our first year. The campaign has received support from many thousands of people and our environmental statement seen by millions more as the Honda Formula One cars have raced with the distinctive 'earth' livery this season.
