In an interview with PrintWeek, Louis Fix, Domtar VP sustainable business and brand management, explained that the company decided to launch Paper Because in late 2010 as a way to reach outside the printing channel and influence opinion, business and environmental leaders.

"It's not really a consumer campaign, but we really want to show the functional, emotional and environmental reasons why print should remain an integral part of the communications supply chain," Fix said, adding that some of the industry sponsored educational efforts to tout green paper production and printing have largely been factual and technical responses to charges from detractors that the paper and printing industries are old-fashioned and environmentally destructive.

Domtar opts for a more humorous advocacy approach. The new 30-second videos, for instance, look at office settings where the pressure to go paperless is taken to ridiculous lengths. In early 2012, Domtar indicated new print ads will be added to the campaign in trade and consumer media, while the videos and banner ads will be expanded within a variety of news websites.

Domtar employs 8,800 and is the largest North American integrated manufacturer and marketer of uncoated freesheet paper - and the second largest globally based on production capacity. Domtar also owns and operates Ariva, a network of strategically located paper distribution facilities and Fix noted the campaign is as much for the company's broad customer base as it is for company itself.

"This helps us with our immediate customers because they see us taking this on and note that we've made a significant investment in this," he said. "It also reinforces that our success is tied very closely to the success of our channel, while also driving home the message that Domtar is doing things the right way".