Flip consumerism
Change the world
Dear humanity,

Right now, there are 719 million people stuck in extreme poverty.(1)

Meanwhile on the same planet, we’re spending $69.58 trillion on consumer products each year.(2)

We don’t think this is right.

If you’re like us, these facts can make you feel pretty uncomfortable. Why?

Because it’s an injustice that shouldn’t exist. It exists because the system is broken. It’s failing humankind, and it’s time for it to change.

We’ve seen a way forward. This is where you and this campaign come in.

To change the world, we must first flip the system.

Join us.

1. World Bank. Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2022: Correcting Course. Washington, DC: World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/37739/9781464818936.pdf

2. WORLD BANK, ‘FINAL CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE (CURRENT US$)’, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.CON.TOTL.CD

We’re changing business as usual

Thankyou exists to offer the world a consumer choice that exists solely to help end extreme poverty.

We’re a social enterprise that began in two of the smallest countries in the world. And because people backed us, we’ve seen more than AUD $17.57 million raised to serve vulnerable communities globally. It’s been a wild journey, but we think it’s just the beginning.

If this campaign works, Thankyou could reach 190 more countries, and together, we could change the course of history and see millions of consumer dollars going towards ending extreme poverty in our lifetime.

It’s no small plan. Which is why we need you.

An invitation to flip consumerism. For good.

We sent a partnership invitation to eleven of the biggest product companies — who right now, are some of our biggest competitors.

They make, distribute and sell hundreds of brands and billions of products every day. What we’re asking them to do will change the world. We’re asking if they’ll join us in making and distributing Thankyou products globally. To flip consumerism, for good.

If they say yes, together we could change millions of lives.

The question is, how do we get them on board? That’s where you come in.

Campaign update

On September 29th, we launched a call out to the world that left us humbled by the response. The campaign kicked off a movement of people who jumped on board to take this idea further than we could’ve imagined! People shared the video, posted creative content, and after two weeks of campaigning together – we had 826 media features across the world, and hit a crazy total of 2.6 billion campaign impressions! (For context, the biggest campaign we’d run prior had 42 million campaign impressions).

The message got through (loud and clear!) to some of the biggest companies on the planet. It’s led us into a few weeks (turning into months) of epic meetings as we look to find the right partner to help take #thankyoutotheworld.

We’d hoped to make a quick call – but it turns out that No Small Plan is No Quick Plan either! We’re asking companies to do something they’ve never done before and it’s taking time. To our surprise (and delight!) we’ve even had companies, who weren’t in the original eleven we’d approached, reach out to us too!

It’s exciting stuff, and we’re taking our time to choose the right way forward. In 10-15 years from today, we want to be able to look back and say we made the right call – not just a quick one. Why? Because the impacts of this partnership could take us, humanity, one step closer to the end of extreme poverty.

Read the latest update on where we’re at here!

What happens next?

Extreme poverty won’t end until we (all of us) choose to end it. We believe that together we can build a new normal. For good. This campaign has been epic, and thanks to your help and support, our message has been heard loud and clear!

Once we know who’s ‘in’, we’ll be announcing it onto one of the largest digital billboards in the world in Times Square, New York City. On that day, we look forward to celebrating those brave enough to help us flip the system and change the world. To stay in the know with how this campaign story ends, including the final announcement of who’s ‘in’, stay tuned to our socials or sign up to The Launch Team here.

Frequently asked questions
Got a question? We like answering them.

There’s a chance it’s answered here, but if not, email us at campaign@thankyou.co

Right now, the world is in a really tough spot. We think our planet needs change at scale quickly, and the fastest way to get there is finding partners who have that kind of scale now. It’s a bold ask — and from our experience, these kinds of ideas always need huge public support, or they don’t ever see the light of day. People power + a simple yet bold idea = impactful change.
Our goal isn’t to run a social business that makes a small difference. It’s to tip the scales and flip the system of the global $69.58 trillion consumer spending to help end extreme poverty. Yep, a big goal that requires an unconventional approach. To win in business you have to play to this thing called ‘sustainable competitive advantage’. This new model flips the game we’ve been playing on its head. We’re aiming to partner with organisations (previously our competitors!) who have the ability to sustain products in-market through their competitive advantage, while we focus on our own competitive advantage: building and cultivating this brand, purpose and the power of the movement of people who stand behind it. Together, we amplify our impact to see a world where not one person lives in extreme poverty. Partnering with a ‘big’ corporate won’t change who Thankyou is or what we do. We will always exist all-for impact, and exist to help create a world where not one person lives in poverty.
In two words: more efficient! In our old model, we ran our product business in-house, and where we did outsource components, it was to groups who, reasonably, added a margin to their costs (manufacturing, warehousing etc). While many of the people we outsourced to were incredibly generous and discounted their margin, the reality is that running a product business isn’t a simple thing and involves a lot of costs. As we scaled, the amount we had to invest for growth began to outweigh the return we were able to generate for impact. This new model has greater scale and efficiency, and holds the potential for Thankyou to reach results for impact way beyond what we’ve achieved before.
We think given where the world is at right now there’s a pretty strong case for a global agreement, but we’re open to agreements based on geographical regions. These are all things we’ll discuss with our potential partners when we meet with them! Ultimately, we want to settle on a partnership that works for everyone, and will see us go a long way towards achieving our vision.
Honestly, we thought we’d be going global years ago. We were even offered some attractive US, UK and other market opportunities, but for us our focus was about getting the model right. It turns out that’s not easy. Three years ago we set out on a journey to New Zealand to test our first country launch. We’ve taken all of those learnings to prepare for this moment (taking Thankyou to the world). You can read more about this journey here in Moonshot.
We think gratitude is one of the most universal and powerful forces in the world. We were founded in a time where often people were 'guilted' into making a difference but at Thankyou, we really want to inspire people to be generous and outward-focused through the concept of gratitude.
Thankyou has a strong history in the food category and a future pipeline of many other products and ideas. What’s really powerful about this new partnership proposal is if we can secure one partner to take the Thankyou personal care and baby ranges to the market, we think in time we could find more partners to make and distribute other product lines, too. We look forward to launching bold new products and ideas in time, but for now the focus is our current product ranges.
Show less We’ve carefully selected potential partners that we look up to in the areas of product quality, performance and responsible business. The fundamentals of the partnership agreement will include these elements, and our team of licencing management experts will be there to hold our partners accountable.
We really hope they do, but whether P&G or Unilever (or one of their competitors) say yes or no, our goal of a world where not one person lives in extreme poverty won’t ever change, and we won’t stop until we see that vision realised. We’ve seen the power of people getting behind a cause, and in Thankyou's instance it has been people collectively using what they have in their hand to make a difference. If this campaign reaches more people who join together in pursuit of a better world, that makes us excited for what the future of Thankyou looks like and makes this entire campaign worth it - regardless of the outcome.
While this campaign isn’t directly raising funds, it’s about achieving a partnership that will generate what we hope is millions more dollars for impact over the coming years. At Thankyou, our vision is to see a world where not one person lives in extreme poverty (people living on less than 2.15 international dollars per day), and this is the work our impact partners address through their projects. You can discover more about our impact in the Impact section of this website.
Depending on where you live, potentially yes! Head to the impact section to discover more about our impact. If your country isn’t one we’re funding programs in right now, there are probably a few different reasons for that. At Thankyou our core focus is funding impact partners who are working to end extreme poverty (serving people and communities living on less than $2.15 per day) which means the projects we fund line up with this focus. At times, we also partner with programs that serve groups of people who are still marginalised or disadvantaged within their socio-economic environment (such as the projects we fund with Children’s Ground in Australia), but may be living below this line - although it’s not our core focus.
Before COVID-19 we had planned to open up offices in other countries, but things have changed for now (like they have for almost everyone). In March we started working remotely and have since set a ‘work from anywhere’ policy. Having said this, in time we plan to have bases in the Northern Hemisphere.
That’s the tough part! Right now, our products are only available in Australia and New Zealand. Which is why we need your help in supporting this campaign, so we can convince one of the world’s biggest product companies to make and distribute Thankyou products to the world! One day we hope to have Thankyou products available in every country globally.
Great question! This is something we’ll work through with our partner once we’re past the first gate. For now, you can view our core range currently on offer in Australia and Zealand in the product section of our website.
That all depends on whether P&G and Unilever (or another partner) are in! The more people that show support for Thankyou during this campaign by posting and tagging in the two big guys or one of their competitors, the quicker we’ll be on our way to being stocked in your country.
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Learn about Thankyou, and our mission and model to see a world where not one person lives in extreme poverty.
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Media enquiries
Contact our team for any media enquiries at press@thankyou.co.