In today’s environment, few materials face as much scrutiny as plastic. From legislative chambers to social media feeds, a steady stream of messaging has shaped public perception, often casting plastics in a negative light. For the plastic pipe industry, that broader narrative has become impossible to ignore.
That’s what led to the launch of the Plastic Pipe Truths campaign, a collaborative effort aimed at reshaping the conversation.
“This really comes down to the ‘plastics are bad’ theme that’s out there,” said Daniel Currence of the Plastics Pipe Institute (PPI). “Some of it comes from competitors, some of it doesn’t, but it’s everywhere. And we felt like we needed a consistent voice to respond.”
A United Front Industry
What makes this campaign different is the collaboration behind it.
For the first time, three major industry organizations—PPI, the Plastics Pipe and Fittings Association (PPFA), and Uni-Bell PVC Pipe Association—have aligned to deliver a unified marketing initiative. While these groups have long shared common goals, this marks their first coordinated push to communicate directly and consistently to a broader audience.
“We’ve talked at the leadership level for years,” Currence explained. “But we’ve never worked together like this to create a unified marketing effort.”
The goal is simple in concept but ambitious in execution: create a steady drumbeat of clear, factual messaging that reinforces the value, performance, and sustainability of plastic pipe.
From Frustration to Strategy
The campaign didn’t emerge overnight. According to Currence, it’s the result of years of frustration.
Individual sectors within the industry, including drainage, have attempted to push positive messaging in the past. But those efforts often lacked the scale and repetition needed to truly influence perception.
“Marketing messages have to show up again and again, from different places, with the same core idea,” he said. “That’s something we’ve struggled to do as individual groups.”
Plastic Pipe Truths is designed to solve that problem by creating a shared platform and encouraging widespread participation across the industry.
What Are the “Truths?”
At the heart of the campaign are short, digestible facts, referred to as “truths,” that address common misconceptions and highlight key benefits of plastic pipe.
While the campaign playfully suggests there could be 99 truths, the initiative has already developed more than 70, with new ones continuing to roll out. These messages are intentionally varied, covering multiple applications and themes—from stormwater and drainage to drinking water and sustainability.
“We’re trying to spread the messages across different pipe uses and different themes,” Currence said. “Not every message applies to every audience, so we’re working to keep it balanced.”
New truths are released monthly, helping maintain visibility without overwhelming the audience.
Did you know plastic pipe is cousin to the earthworm? Not actually, it’s just good in soil.
Here’s a stat for you: If you buy a new home, there’s
a 90% chance you’ll be housemates with plastic pipe.
We weigh less, cost less, produce less greenhouse gases and even fail less. I am pretty sure four negatives make a positive.
Reaching Beyond the Industry
Although PPI’s core audience has traditionally been engineers, contractors and agencies, this campaign takes a broader view.
“We know our first ripple is going to be technical audiences,” Currence noted. “But we want messaging that can go beyond that—something the general public can understand and connect with.”
To achieve that, the campaign leans heavily on social media, supported by digital placements and, most importantly, participation from member companies.
An Open Invitation to Participate
One of the defining features of Plastic Pipe Truths is its flexibility. Rather than enforcing rigid brand standards, the campaign encourages companies to adapt and amplify the content in ways that fit their own voice.
If members want to take a truth and put their own imagery behind it, that’s great.
For companies like Fratco, that opens the door to meaningful involvement. From social media and digital storytelling to customer education and publication features, the opportunities to extend the campaign are wide-ranging.
Rigid plastic pipes don’t contain phthalates, which is good, because it is hard to spell!
Plastic pipe lowers costs and promotes environmental stewardship. We’re giving Smokey Bear a run for his money.
It’s what inside that counts — and inside plastic pipe is millions of pounds of recycled plastics.
Measuring Early Impact
As a relatively new initiative, officially launched in December, the campaign is still in its early stages. Initial metrics have focused on website traffic and engagement.
“We’re seeing a bump each time we release something,” Currence said. “The question is whether those bumps keep growing over time. That’s going to tell us a lot.”
More comprehensive data is expected as the campaign matures, with additional insights anticipated following PPI’s upcoming annual meeting.
Why It Matters: Advocacy and the Bigger Picture
Beyond marketing, the campaign plays a critical role in industry advocacy.
Currence, who regularly engages with legislators at both the state and federal levels, sees firsthand how deeply anti-plastic sentiment can influence decision-making.
“You can walk into a conversation and immediately feel that bias,” he said. “People don’t want to do plastics any favors, and that puts us one step away from policies that could restrict their use.”
In that context, Plastic Pipe Truths serves as a foundation, helping shift perception before those critical conversations even begin.
We’re trying to move people from ‘plastics are bad’ to ‘this is the material I should be using, and here’s why.’
That shift doesn’t happen overnight. But consistent, credible messaging can begin to close the gap.
Plastic pipe is resistant to a wide range of chemicals; it’s your knight in shining (plastic) armor.
Plastic pipes are less expensive — they won’t ask you to tap, swipe, or insert nearly as often as metal pipes.
Plastic pipes pass the hardest tests for safe drinking water — and they’re top of their class in more ways than one.
Looking Ahead
The long-term vision for Plastic Pipe Truths is still taking shape. Meanwhile, industry volunteers continue to refine messaging, prioritize topics and guide execution.
In many ways, the campaign is evolving in real time, driven not just by strategy, but by participation.
And that may ultimately determine its success.
“This only works if the industry picks it up and runs with it,” Currence said.
For companies like Fratco and the broader drainage community, that presents both an opportunity and a responsibility: to help shape the narrative, reinforce the facts and ensure the truth about plastic pipe is not only told, but heard.
