GREEN WASHING

by ARUNKUMAR G

GREEN WASHING

Green Marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. is a form of spin in which green PR or green marketing is deceptively used to promote the perception that an organization's aims and policies are environmentally friendly. Whether it is to increase profits or gain political support, green washing may be used to manipulate popular opinion to support otherwise questionable aims.

Lets go with experiments

Tyson

Foods, the world's largest meat processor and the second largest chicken producer in the United States, has admitted that it injects its chickens with antibiotics before they hatch, but labels them as raised without antibiotics anyway.

GENERAL MOTORS

Over the past year, General Motors has sought to promote its production and development of fuel-efficient vehicles. Its Gas-Friendly to Gas-Free campaign, launched in 2007, attempts to reframe GM as an environmentally responsible and progressive company.

Clairol
Clairol

has claimed their line of Herbal Essences shampoos offer a truly organic experience, even though the shampoos use chemicals such as sodium lauryl sulfate, propylene glycol and D&C red no. 33, which are all not organic.

McDonald

In 2009, European McDonald's changed the colour of their logos from yellow and red to yellow and green; a spokesman for the company explained that the change was "to clarify [their] responsibility for the preservation of natural resources.

Regulation

Australia The Australian Trade Practices Act has been modified to include punishment of companies that provide misleading environmental claims. Any organization found guilty of such could face up $1.1 million in fines. Canada Canada's Competition Bureaualong with the Canadian Standards Association are discouraging companies from making "vague claims" towards their products' environmental impact. Any claims must be backed up by "readily available data."

Contd

Norway Norwegian car manufacturers are forbidden from claiming that their automobiles are environmentally friendly, since cars "can't be environmentally beneficial", as a spokesperson for the country's Consumer Ombudsman explains. Manufacturers may face fines if they even use the terms "environmentally friendly", "green", "clean", or "natural" in their advertisements. USA The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provides voluntary guidelines for environmental marketing claims. These guidelines give the FTC the right to prosecute false and misleading advertisement claims. The green guidelines were not created to be used as an enforceable guideline but instead were intended to be followed voluntarily. Listed below are the green guidelines set by the FTC.

 Organizations

and individuals are making attempts to reduce the impact of green washing by exposing it to the public. "Green washers is a new (release in 2011) documentary aimed at challenging, exposing, and fighting the issues surrounding green wash. Greenpeace, the international environmental organisation, has a blog that allows green washing claims to be rated. Green washing blogsalso exist to reveal any untruths in claims that are made. The British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing has a specific section (section 49) targeting environmental claims.

Opposition

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