Mobile network encourages consumers to go ‘free range’
giffgaff and Wood Green The Animals Charity, call on Brits to free their phones and free a chicken- Unlock a phone, unlock a chicken – giffgaff will re-home a battery hen for every new customer with an unlocked mobile handset
Mobile network, giffgaff, has joined forces with Wood Green, The Animals Charity, to launch a unique campaign to help give freedom to thousands of battery hens and encourage consumers to break free from the shackles of their mobile contract. From today, the community-led mobile network will unlock and re-home a battery hen for every new giffgaff customer with an unlocked mobile handset[1].
In a unique partnership – the first of its kind for a mobile network – giffgaff will donate £4 to Wood Green, The Animals Charity, to cover the cost of re-homing a battery hen for each person who unlocks their phone and joins giffgaff. By launching this campaign, giffgaff hopes to help consumers, as well as chickens, go ‘free range.’ giffgaff customers provided inspiration for the campaign as they expressed a sense a freedom after escaping their restrictive mobile contracts and joining giffgaff.
Earlier this year, new research showed that over half (55%) of Great Britain’s mobile customers – 25 million people[2] – own locked handsets, which prevent them from freely using alternative network SIM cards. As well as potentially preventing customers from freely switching to get the best deals, they are being held hostage to the tune of £400 million[3] by big mobile networks who charge for unlocking handsets.
giffgaff hopes the campaign will help more consumers break free from their contracts and set thousands of battery hens free at the same time. The campaign comes as figures reveal there are currently 16 million[4] battery hens in need of re-homing, a figure which is set grow as the EU ban on battery farms comes into force in 2012.
Millions of battery hens are locked in cages which are no bigger than a size of piece of A4 paper meaning they are unable to live the free range lives they deserve. giffgaff has pledged to support Wood Green, The Animals Charity, to triple the number of battery hens they re-home each year and ensure there is enough help for ex- battery hens long after the EU ban on battery-farmed eggs comes into force in 2012.
giffgaff’s, Head of Brand and Proposition Tom Rainsford, said:
“As a community-led business we champion the rights of consumers and encourage them to adopt a un-restricted attitude to their mobile phone. So when we heard about the great sense of freedom many of our new customers felt when they left their contracts and joined giffgaff we were inspired to do something different.
“Through our partnership with Wood Green, The Animals Charity, I want to encourage the millions of consumers who are currently being locked up by their network to break free and at the same time help to liberate the millions of battery hens prior to the 2012 EU ruling out Battery hen farming. All you need to do is join giffgaff.com, pop our SIM in your unlocked mobile and Wood Green, The Animals Charity, will rehabilitate and re-home a battery chicken.”
Wood Green, The Animals Charity Tara Dundon said:
“We’re delighted that giffgaff has decided to use their expertise in helping liberate consumers to help free the millions of battery hens that are suffering every day. Their support will mean we can re-home hundreds extra of ex-battery hens every year.
“When the EU ban on battery farming comes into force in 2012 there will be millions of battery hens in need of new homes and companies like giffgaff will make their transition from cage to field all the more pleasurable. We take our hats off to giffgaff and urge more companies to follow their lead”
To find out more about the ‘Unlock a phone, unlock a chicken’ campaign go to www.giffgaff.com/unlockachicken for more information.
[1] giffgaff will donate £4 to Wood Green, The Animals Charity for every new giffgaff customer who activates a giffgaiff SIM card in an unlocked mobile phone
[2] Blue Rubicon has calculated this figure based the ONS’ current figure of the GB adult (18+) population. 97% of 18-65 year olds own a mobile phone and 55% of them own a locked handset equating to c.25 million people.
[3] Blue Rubicon calculations reveal that the average cost charged by mobile operators to remove SIM locks is £17.26. If all 25 million owners of locked handsets were to unlock their mobiles it would cost a total of £ 431,500,000.
[4] According to the British Hen Welfare Trust (http://www.bhwt.org.uk/)
Order a free giffgaff mobile SIM card. Unlimited texts for only £5 or 250 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited mobile Internet for only £10.
Want a iPhone4 compatible giffgaff microSIM? order one from http://bit.ly/fUdmwd
Web: http://freegiffgaffsim.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/freegiffgaffsim
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/freegiffgaffsim
No comments:
Post a Comment