The article in the url below is a report about the level and nature of “eco-friendly claims” in the advertising industry (Issues: Advertising, p151; Brands, p153). While the environment was the focus of attention at the 2007 International Advertising Festival at Cannes, in 2008 this issue was pushed to the background:
“… Mr. Gore was nowhere to be found, and the party buzz was about the American presidential election, the Euro 2008 soccer tournament and even the business of advertising itself. Green marketing, while booming, had lost some of its cachet.”
The article argues that this is largely due to greenwashing by firms that overreach in their environmental claims, which has resulted in a negative reaction and increasing skepticism among consumers:
“The sheer volume of these ads -- and the flimsiness of many of their claims -- seems to have shot the messenger. At best, it has led consumers to feel apathetic toward the green claims or, at worst, even hostile and suspicious of them.”
This growing consumer backlash/disillusionment is measured in terms of complaints submitted to various national advertising standards organizations:
“The Advertising Standards Authority, an industry-financed group that monitors ad content in Britain, said it had received 561 complaints from consumers about green claims in 410 ads in 2007, up from 117 complaints about 83 ads the year before. The European Advertising Standards Alliance, an umbrella group for similar organizations across Europe, reported sizable increases in complaints in other countries, including in Belgium and the Netherlands, particularly involving automotive advertising.”
To the extent that firms perceive CSR to be a fad to which they need to pay lip-service, while minimizing their level of substantive action, the danger facing the CSR community seems twofold. First, if firms do not genuinely believe that CSR provides them with a competitive advantage, they are more likely to make claims that are not supported on closer inspection. And, second, especially in a deteriorating economic environment, the CSR department/budget in such firms is more likely to be cut back. Either way, the economic downturn and the idea that CSR is a fad whose time will pass are significant threats to the gains made in recent years.
Take care
David
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
Cooling Off on Dubious Eco-Friendly Claims
By ERIC PFANNER
883 words
18 July 2008
The New York Times
Late Edition - Final
3
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/business/media/18adco.html
