Let’s Invest in Celebrating Leather and Play Offensively Online

Leather was (and still is) primarily targeted for having a high carbon footprint caused by its link to the beef industry, whereas vegan leather is revered for having low carbon emissions. But it is important to ask, how could real leather, a natural byproduct of the meat industry, cause more harm to the environment than vegan leather, a product commonly derived from petroleum, a non-renewable resource? This led to the research of the core metric determining leather’s demise: the carbon footprint. 

Upon initial research, it was revealed that the carbon footprint metric was popularised and taught to the general public through advertisements created by British Petroleum (BP) and the marketing agency Ogilvy and Mather. The original carbon metric was created as a function of the ecological footprint, a tool created by two professors at the University of British Columbia. Intended as a holistic method, the ecological footprint’s sole purpose was to measure environmental impacts associated with human activities.

The ecological footprint wasn't developed to score or rate industries as "good" or "bad". It wasn't developed to tell consumers that they are the source of the problem. It wasn't developed to destroy industries. It was developed to improve them.

But that's not how marketing works when in the wrong hands. British Petroleum knew that consumers authentically wanted to protect their world for future generations. They knew that this marketing tactic would spark an immediate emotional tie with its consumers, who do not want to be responsible for causing harm to a dying planet. The message to "know your carbon footprint" was advertised by BP repeatedly for decades.

This research resulted in more questions surrounding the validity and accuracy of the metric and how something scientific could become a tool for marketers and corporate leaders.

Studies produced in 2024 by the Leather and Hide Council of America (LHCA) in partnership with a leading life cycle analysis professor from Colorado State University revealed that the leather supply chain, traced all the way back to the cow, had a carbon footprint that was exaggerated by over 640%. Think about that for a moment. Let’s say this study could be off by 50%. That would mean that the existing values that have been used to destroy the entire use of a material (that has existed for thousands of years) are still exaggerated by over 300%. This is how we can celebrate leather. Because with better data, comprehensive studies, and the separation of science and marketing, we can finally get to the truth: leather is a sustainable choice.

Another aspect to consider is the drive for “animal-free” products. 

At most, 22% of the world is vegetarian, and 2% are vegan, yet brands continue to use this as their reason to reject leather entirely. Leather's animal-origin acts as the "shiny object" distracting consumers from the sins of their latest petroleum-based alternative, and it's working. Brands are enjoying their increased profit margins while consumers get used to less value.

But faux leather is nothing new, it is simply wrapped in new marketing: “vegan leather”.  This rebrand trajectory is important to understand so let’s take a look.

In the mid-1800s, Presstoff was invented, known to be the first artificial leather made of a paper pulp-like substance. It was incredibly unpopular due to its withering durability, but it became necessary during WWII as real leather was rationed for the war. In 1914 came Naugahyde, a vinyl product that sold itself as such. Wildly popular in the 50s, Naugahyde was known to be cheap—but it was the beginning of fakes using the leather name to steal market share. 

Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and Polyurethane (PU) leathers were extensively used in the late 20th century, enhancing their properties for fashion, automotive, and upholstery. However, it was clear that these were lower-end substitutes that delivered only on cost and nothing else.

Fast forward to 2006, to what the Is It Leather? Campaign deems the “Vegan Leather Rebrand”, where “vegan leather” was first used as a search term in Google. This was an important event because consumers only search for what they hear marketed. Solidifying this event is Stella McCartney’s Falabella Tote, launched in 2009 – popularising the word “vegan” alongside “luxury". In 2013, MYX presented one of the first “mushroom leather” products, claiming their plant-based (but petroleum-mixed) product is a sustainable choice.

In 2015, PETA attended a Tesla shareholder meeting, securing “vegan” as a term synonymous with “responsible.” This led to today, with over 5 automotive brands marketing their “fully vegan” interiors and nearly $7 million a year spent on marketing vegan fashion labels.

But being “animal-free” isn’t the final nail in the coffin for the leather industry. It is a façade for brands to avoid misinformed brand erosion while profiting from cheaper materials across their supply chain. Leather is at the bottom, and we must fix this mistake of not addressing it sooner. The industry must rewrite, reteach, and remarket actual facts as the leather narrative has been dramatically swayed by fake leather and oil companies.

Beyond the science, there is another aspect that is vital to celebrating real leather – and that is product claims. On average, each of us are exposed to 4,000-10,000 ads per day. Whether consciously or not, we are consuming information fed to us through advertisements. Vegan ads are a growing percentage of this mix, deceptively promoting the environmental benefits of plant-based products while vilifying animal-based ones, taking market share from the leather industry.

The ads have seemingly worked on consumers, with well-intentioned individuals and brands believing that a leather-like product can be made of 100% plants when it is in fact mixed with plastic polyurethanes (derived from petroleum or toxic bio-based sources).

This isn't to say the leather industry doesn't use polyurethane coatings, because some do. But what the leather industry uses is on average 40 times less than any vegan leather product listed above.

Plastic and oil are a part of our world; we aren't getting rid of it, but we can reduce our dependency upon it. Leather does this by recycling waste from the meat industry where the hides would otherwise end up in a landfill. Why pump more oil?

But the concept of vegan equalling responsibility has taken over much of the product-marketing world, with the fashion world embracing the term "vegan leather" around 2010. Leading brands, such as Stella McCartney's handbags, created high-end clothing stamped with an "ethical, vegan" label. Google Trends data from Australia suggest "vegan leather" outnumbered searches for "pleather" and "fake leather" starting in 2016 and has only risen since. In 2019, retail trends claimed a 70% increase in fashion products labelled as "vegan" in the US and UK markets. 

Consumers want to know they are buying products that aren't damaging the environment, and to put it simply, environmentalist brands got to it before the leather industry. It isn't about the facts, unfortunately, as all of us consumers don't have time to triple-check claims as we skim the internet for our next purchase. It all comes down to clever marketing, and PETA outsmarted us all.

Recent industry studies show that over 52% of consumers want to buy leather, and 82% of consumers want to have real leather in their next vehicle purchase. We find that this same trend is apparent within the fashion industry as well. But what overrides this decision? Brilliant false marketing. 

Vegan leather isn't anything more than Kellogg's weak claim that frosted mini-wheats (a high-fructose corn syrup-covered processed wheat cereal) improved children's attentiveness by 20%. Kellogg’s ended up paying a $4 million settlement and were required to stop using the ads making these claims.

This isn't a debate about brands supporting the environment through different means; this is about brands utilising false advertisements to convert those who want leather into purchasing "vegan" and guilt them into saving the planet. Brands need to be held responsible for pitching false information to consumers. If we can hold Kellogg’s responsible for false product claims, we should equally hold brands, retailers, and automakers responsible.

Consumers want integrity, responsibility, and sustainability. With real leather you get all three. With “vegan” leather, you're scammed thinking you got one.

There will never be a product in our world that checks all the boxes all at once – as there are always tradeoffs in product characteristics coupled with personal preferences. However, there is a space for celebration of the benefits of all products through the promotion of data backed by third parties and scientific studies. The leather industry is one of the oldest industries known to man, and it has centuries of data to lean upon and decades of recent improvements that have revolutionized the industry. Collectively, we have all the answers we need to celebrate leather so that global consumers understand what those in our industry know. We only felt the need to defend ourselves because we were a bit late to the marketing party. We now know how we got here, and it is within our reach to change this narrative. We have everything we need; we just need to get it online for the people to decide.

If leather were invented today, it would be the most popular innovation since the iPhone. It comes from repurposed waste, it is 80-100% bio-based, is luxurious and durable, promotes slow-fashion ideologies, and is versatile in function and style.

It is time we invest in celebrating leather and play offensively online. We may have arrived late, but the party isn’t over yet. We have the right to compete fairly, effectively, and cost efficiently when we engage in the digital marketing space. Now is leather's time to shine.