Green Options (http://www.greenoptions.com/), “a community of individuals striving to protect the environment and live well,” has compiled a set of examples of how firms should not do environmental sustainability advertising:
http://www.greenoptions.com/wiki/great-greenwashed-advertising
All of these ads are by organizations or industry representative groups with dubious sustainability track records, yet who are trying to benefit from increased consumer interest in the environment and related issues.
‘Greenwash,’ which is defined by the environmental marketing organization Terrachoice (http://www.terrachoice.com/) as “the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service,” is an important part of the CSR debate. While firms increasingly try and benefit from growing consumer interest in this area, however, this phenomenon also reinforces the important role that stakeholders play in holding firms to account for their actions. Greenwash will only continue while it benefits firms to do so. To the extent that stakeholders (especially consumers) remain vigilant, educate themselves about specific issues, and are willing to act against firms that fail to meet expectations, then Greenwash will become more of a threat to survival, rather than an opportunity for profit.
Have a good weekend,
David
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
http://www.sagepub.com/Werther/
