My colleague Jennifer Schurter has an interesting post on “greenwashing” — the practice of making dubious environmental claims in a marketing campaign.
I found it especially timely, having recently encountered:
1. Three different dry cleaners claiming to be “environmentally friendly”. One has made that claim for years; the other two recently added signage to that effect.
2. A Portland pest-control company advertising its “concern for the environment” — an interesting position to stake out when its primary business is to kill living things.
3. A Portland radio station (not one of mine) honoring Comcast Cable as part of its “Green Team”. Apparently this is because if you stay home and watch movies on demand, you’re not driving to the theater or rental store.
4. Thursday’s Wall Street Journal article on the difficulty of verifying environmental claims.
All of these claims may very well have some truth to them — although the cable one made me hoot in my hybrid. And the reason for the approach is that environmental impact and energy use are definitely on consumers’ minds.
But the proliferation of “green” messaging will ultimately cause consumers to tune much of it out.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Click here to learn the shocking truth about Phil Bernstein
Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising and Marketing Blog.
Request your free copy of Phil Bernstein’s white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.
Got a question? Call Phil Bernstein at 503-323-6553.
