For Immediate Release:
Media Contacts:
512 476 4368 (office)
Melanie Fish, mfish@enviromedia.com, 512 784 8507
Kelli Johnson, kjohnson@enviromedia.com, 512 773 7452
Greenwashing Awareness Goes Mainstream
Consumers warned on Today Show and GreenwashingIndex.com
(AUSTIN, Texas)—Watch out, greenwashers: Consumers are cluing in on misleading tactics in advertising, thanks to www.greenwashingindex.com and mainstream journalists who are starting to spread the word.
The Greenwashing Index has received more than 10,000 visits since its December debut, when EnviroMedia Social Marketing launched the new Web site in partnership with the advertising faculty of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC). The online forum allows consumers to judge for themselves the green claims made by major advertisers.
Valerie Davis, founder of EnviroMedia, will appear on NBC’s Today, to help consumers protect themselves from companies that spend more time and money claiming to be green than actually implementing business practices that minimize environmental impact.
“It’s time for companies to realize consumers are not going to fall for false, exaggerated or misleading green claims,” said Davis. “Consumers are about to get angry and smarter about which green advertising claims to believe.”
EnviroMedia principals Valerie Davis and Kevin Tuerff announced the launch of the Greenwashing Index from the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, Dec. 11, and called on consumers to submit ads. Almost 50 different ads have been posted on the Web site, and consumers are invited to score those and post others.
"We’ve been witnessing a tidal wave of green advertising over the past year," said EnviroMedia President Kevin Tuerff. "It's our hope the Greenwashing Index will help eradicate bad environmental marketing claims and, at the same time, shine a positive light on companies making measurable reductions in carbon emissions related to climate change."
"When an ad is posted and ranked on the Greenwashing Index site, it doesn't necessarily mean a company or organization is not doing a good job with its environmental marketing claims,“ said EnviroMedia CEO Valerie Davis. ”We're providing a venue that educates consumers on what to look for in green ads and an easy mechanism for evaluating them. Scores will range from 'good,' to 'pushing it,' to 'total greenwashing.'"
The Greenwashing Index
Criteria for the Greenwashing Index was developed by the University of Oregon's SOJC Advertising program. Led by Professors Deborah Morrison and Kim Sheehan, a group of academicians developed and weighted five criteria that consumers can use to scrutinize advertisements and determine whether they believe ads are greenwashing by doing any of the following:
- Misleading with words
- Misleading with visuals and/or graphics
- Making a green claim that is vague or seemingly unprovable
- Overstating or exaggerating how green the product/company/service actually is
- Leaving out or masking important information, making the green claim sound better than it is
"The Greenwashing Index has great potential for not just educating consumers, but also — and just as importantly — for educating our future advertising professionals that there's a right way and a wrong way to conduct environmental marketing," said Morrison.
3M is one company that seems to be aware of the perils of not sticking to substance when it comes to green advertising claims.
"I regularly get accosted for disallowing vague claims for a 3M product that competitors are making for similar products," said Susan Price, who visited the Greenwashing Index site and serves as chairperson for 3M's Environmental Marketing Claims Committee. "I'm very pleased to see a forum where vague and bogus claims can be highlighted and questioned."
Developing sustainable business practices and accurately telling that story is good business. According to a survey released in December by AARP, 40 million "Green Boomers" are more attuned to advertising — both good and bad — and are very willing to spend money on environmentally sound products.
Said one visitor to GreenwashingIndex.com: "I make it a point to buy green products, and I am willing to spend a little extra if I'm buying something that is supposed to be environmentally friendly. I don't want to spend my money foolishly, and I don't want to hand my money over to liars."
To submit or rate ads, the public may visit Greenwashingindex.com.
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, EnviroMedia Social Marketing is the leading U.S. marketing agency delivering sustainability consulting and authentic, ethical campaigns that get measurable results since 1997. The company has been recognized with several awards for ethics in advertising. For more information, visit EnviroMedia.com.