be my baby!

Got a Babies R Us near you? Well, grab that purse/wallet and run on over! method lust reader Katie informed me over the weekend that she stopped into her nearest Babies R Us and found method Le Scrub for drum roll... 98 cents! It wasn't even listed as such on the shelf, and she didn't even realize what a deal she'd snatched up until she went to check out!

So needless to say, I had to do a quick run, and let me just tell you, it was like walking into a foreign country. I was actually uncomfortable in Babies R Us. Ha ha! I was like the odd man out! But anyway, ignoring all that, I found a slew of deals! I'm talking 98 cents Lil' Bowl Blu (my two stores were all out of the Le Scrub, in fact there was only one bottle of Lil' Bowl Blu, and it was just in some random area that didn't even have a tag!), $1.98 sweet water wet dryer sheets (the old school ones!), fuzzy peach kids line for $1.98, $4.98 free + clear squeaky green laundry detergent, and $1.98 smarty dish cubes! Ka-ching!

And (can we talk competitors for a moment, shh...) they also carry lots of Seventh Generation products, and a ton of them were on clearance. Dish soap, dish cubes, fabric softener (in free + clear! Hello, method, I bought TWO of these! Word to the wise, when your new fabric softener comes out, I pray there is some free + clear in there. Cause that was always my previous problem with the other version you had. I guess I'm the crazy one, cause I lust scents in everything, EXCEPT my laundry items. I must have detergent and fabric softener in free + clear. I hate my clothes to smell like anything! Yes, I'm weird. So I don't really ever use fabric softener, but when I found this I had to pick it up cause it was yes, once more, free + clear!) as well as spray cleaner, rinse aid for your dish washer, and more! AND it was $1.98 each, WITH a buy one Seventh Generation product (even clearance!) get one at 50% off price! Hello, did you hear that?! Hello!

Now like I said, double check the prices (they have price scanners in Babies R Us, and Toys R Us, which will usually have a small Babies R Us section) cause they aren't always priced as cheaply as they ring up! Good luck hunting, and thanks Katie!

I ended up with one package of method dish cubes, one Lil' Bowl Blu, and two jugs of Seventh Generation fabric softener (80 loads!) all for a grand total of $6.36! Deal-e-oh!

green push

The Wallstreet Journal has a really interesting article out focusing on method (and Seventh Generation's) latest big green cleaning products push using new advertisting campaigns! Check it out:

"Green Products To Get A Push |
by Ellen Byron and Suzanne Vranica

Encouraged by resilient sales, some leading makers of environmentally friendly household products are boosting their marketing firepower, mounting a broader challenge to manufacturers of mainstream consumer goods.

Seventh Generation and Method Products, which both tout their cleaning and personal-care lines as safer for people and the environment, plan to launch their first major marketing campaigns this week. Both companies are hoping to capitalize on the momentum behind "green" products, which have posted surprisingly strong sales despite the weak economy.

The campaigns come as the two companies take other steps designed at least in part to prepare them to compete more directly with their mainstream counterparts. Seventh Generation is introducing a line of disinfecting wipes and sprays, while Method is expanding its lineup to include a new laundry detergent. They are also polishing their management credentials: The founders of both companies recently brought in consumer-product industry veterans to take over chief-executive duties.

While many shoppers switched to cheaper products during the recession, sales of products promoted as environmentally friendly have held up relatively well, despite their premium prices. Over the past five years, U.S. sales of "ethical" household products—what the industry calls items marketed on the basis of meeting an ethical standard—have nearly tripled, reaching an estimated $1.6 billion in 2009, according to market-research firm Packaged Facts.

"People may be trading from steak to poultry, but the people who buy these green products believe the health and safety of one's family is more important," says Burt Flickinger III, managing director of consulting firm Strategic Resource Group.



Indeed, a spokeswoman for Seventh Generation says sales at mass-market retailers rose 20% last year from the year before. The company says its 2009 totaled sales about $150 million, but declined to disclose profits.

Seventh Generation plans to launch its first TV ad on Monday. In the past, the Burlington, Vt., company has relied on small, mostly online, campaigns to promote its products, which include diapers, trash bags and laundry detergent it touts for attributes like biodegradability or natural ingredients.

The new ads, based on the slogan, "Protecting Planet Home," describe a household that uses Seventh Generation products as a place where "no one holds their breath while they're cleaning." Seventh Generation declines to disclose how much it is spending on the ads, which coincide with its introduction of wipes and spray that use a thyme-based disinfectant technology.

Method has depended on offbeat marketing tactics, including a Web site that lets people wash away their sins virtually with its hand soap. Now it is rolling out its largest ad campaign ever to plug a new superconcentrated laundry detergent. The product, scheduled to hit U.S. stores this month, comes in a slim bottle with a pump dispenser.

San Francisco-based Method is spending $10 million on the campaign, which includes a new detergent Web site that launches this week and print and online ads that begin next month. The pitch takes aim at the company's bigger laundry-aisle competitors with the tagline "Jug-Free America," suggesting that consumers don't need to lug around heavy detergent bottles.

One ad compares a Method detergent bottle with a large orange one, a not-so-subtle swipe at market leader Procter & Gamble's Tide..."

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Read the rest here! Thoughts? (And what do you think of Seventh Generation debuting an all-natural disinfectant formula? Good? Bad? Does disinfectant = antibacterial? What if method were to do this? Comment!)

showdown

Looks like method has gotten some competition over at Target. Some method lust readers have sent me emails on this subject, and I'd noticed it myself a while ago. Target has begun carrying four environmentally friendly cleaning lines! Along with our beloved method, they now carry Mrs. Meyers, Seventh Generation, and JR Watkins. They moved the method line down a bit on the shelf, and at least at my Target, put up an entire section featuring these new products.

While I praise Target for going down the environmental path, it still erks me a bit when they clearance some method product (that isn't being discontinued) and just make room for something else; leaving me to either live without, or order the product online (wet dryer sheets, I'm talking about you.) Alas, I have to buy the Seventh Generation dishwasher detergent, cause uh, method doesn't make dish cubes any longer. (method, what's up?! We love our dish cubes!) It'll be interesting to see if these products last on Target's shelves; or if they're just another Target "here today, gone tomorrow" item. Either way, method's proven they're in it for the long run! Yay!