Most consumers consciously attempt to buy products that are friendly to the environment (McClendon, 2010). Marketers first took advantage of this fact in the early 1980s, beginning with the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (McClendon, 2010) and the creation of a new form of advertising called “green marketing.” These advertisements presented products as eco-friendly to appeal to environmentally aware consumers. Since then, the trend for green marketing has expanded drastically. The two advertisements examined in this essay are examples of green marketing. The first ad is presented by Consol, a company that specializes in a wide range of glass packaging products. The second ad features Ozarka, an eco-shaped water bottle product produced by Nestle with less plastic than the average competing half-liter. Both ads present their products as environmentally friendly; however, the second ad implies their product as superior to competing brands, while the first advertisement credits glass products as a whole. Although green marketing is occasionally misleading for the sake of appealing to consumer guilt, this form of advertising has encouraged environmentally aware consumers in a modern market.
The first advertisement features an outdoor setting. Lush, tropical foliage, highlighted with dashes of light covers the top one third of the advertisement. Sitting on a weathered-gray wooden table is half-peeled banana, but instead of a banana inside, there is a tall, clear glass bottle. The banana skin is fresh-looking and yellow, with hints of green on the edges and few brown spots. To the right of the banana-skinned glass bottle, in white copy against the dark green background, is the catch phrase, “Packaging made from nature....
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... versus want or convenience, and educating ones self about a company or product, can one be assured they are supporting something truly good for the planet.
Green marketing has created a more environmentally healthy market. Compared to twenty years ago, twice as many Americans are taking proactive measures to help the environment (Semrau, 2011). As campaigns continue, more products will be expected to come out green until it is the business standard. While green advertising can be useful to the consumer to make them aware of potentially eco-friendly companies and products, there is a limited benefit to the consumer. Like most advertising, even green advertising encourages consumerism, a trend that an environmentally friendly mindset is suppose to oppose. Consumers must be wary of green advertising, and use it as only part of their information when making a decision.
Reese’s is one of the most iconic brands of candy, beloved by Americans and known for chocolate and peanut butter treats. Yet, even the most beloved brands most advertise to maintain their presence, which is what Reese’s did in early 2009 when they released an advertisement that utilized a renewed awareness of global warming in the public. This came on the heels of the 2008 election, when President Obama won in a landslide with one of the main tenets of his platform being a focus on global warming. The purpose of this Reese’s advertisement is to to encourage their target audience, educated and liberal individuals, to purchase their Reese’s cups candy. Through the use of attention grabbing language, appealing imagery, and masterful ethos, Reese's appeals to an educated and liberal audience by relating its food brand with the
Supplying eco-friendly products has been on the Walmart agenda since the early 1990s. After a failed first attempt and much criticism, the company decided to try again. In a speech made in October of 2005, CEO of Walmart, H. Lee Scott Jr., declared Walmart would devise a “business sustainable strategy” to reduce the environmental impact the company had. Walmart could not pull this off alone. If they only focused on the confines of themselves, rather than all that they were involved with, it was estimated that they’d only reduce their impact by about 10%. To reach that goal of 100%, Walmart had to involve stakeholders to make networks which achieve sustainability. These networks proved to be vital in not only Walmart’s goal in minimizing its environmental impact, but recovering their reputation, avoiding criticism, saving money, raising awareness, improving customer satisfaction, and creating incentive for other businesses to work towards sustainability.
As a sub-claim, Barnett and Gleick illustrate how marketing and false advertising play a major role in the creation of the grandiose image of bottled water. As a ground Barnett states, how “Aquafina” gets their water from the Detroit River”, however places “snow-capped mountain peaks” on its labels, while “Everest Water” comes from “Corpus Christi, not Mt. Everest”, and “Glacier Clear Water” is actually “tap water from Greeneville, Tennessee” (Barnett 34). Barnett states the actual sources of well-known bottling companies, which are consumed by many people on a daily basis. Reading this information allows the audience to reconsider their previous beliefs on bottled water and not base all their judgment on labels. Another ground used by Barnett, is how a beverage analyst, Hemphill, believes “consumers base their bottles-water decisions on three things: convenience, the packaging, and the price as more important than whether its drinking water or spring water” (Barnett 35). This ground illustrates the superficiality of water bottles, where the image of the bottle is more important than the actual content. Barnett uses the analyst to convince her audience of the business in water bottles; not a necessity anymore, but a
Green washing: The disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image. In order for big companies to stay on top of the market today, they are forced to think of advertising strategies to help their public image and advertise their product. Over the years the system has become very complex and also very questionable. Companies are willing to lie, change their logo, and sometimes even their company name just to keep their name and image clean in front of the public just to make sure that they are making their money. Green washing helps this by advertising to the public that they are environmentally supportive and responsible. Most people that are into buying “green products” do not even realize that the company they are buying from is green washing in some sort of way just so that they can attract attention to the public. Green washing companies may advertise that they are “eco-friendly”, but when it comes down to it, the facts hidden behind the curtains beg to differ. Just like in the green washing video we watched in class, the companies may look great compared to the worst companies, but that does not mean what they are doing is still productive for our environmental movement. One company that has been notorious for their green washing efforts for the past couple of decades is the Oil/energy company: British Petroleum a.k.a. Beyond Petroleum. They are one of the world’s largest leading oil companies who has also becoming a large energy supplying company with presence in petrochemicals, gas, and solar divisions. Over the past twenty years BP has been the cause of several deadly disasters in the oil business in the U.S. and around the world. Despite their green washing effor...
An advertisement that contains a very well developed visual perspective for the viewers, is able to draw the attention to them, and send the message across in an effective manner. The advertisement by World Wildlife Fund, is insinuated to represent what nature is becoming through the actions of individuals careless activities within the planet, and overall how it effects the planet and each individual that lives within it. The main focal point of the advertisement takes place on September 11, 2001, as many might remember to be the 9/11, alongside that the advertiser uses approximately 20 planes that can be seen heading in the direction of the two World Trade Centers. This ...
Young, D. (2012). Green Marketing & Marketing Ethics, Room 009, Block 17, Middlesex University Dubai. (25th March, 2012)
This paper will discuss the five environmental factors that influence global and domestic marketing decisions that organizations must make. These five environmental factors are technology, demographics, government, culture and economics. Companies are affected differently by these factors depending on the industry they are in and the size of the organization. I will be using the Washington Plaza Hotel to illustrate how these environmental factors affect the hotel industry's marketing decisions. The Washington Plaza Hotel is a hospitality business located in Washington, DC. They offer services such as lodging, restaurant, bar, catering and meeting space rental. The Washington Plaza Hotel's major customer base is government, tourist, non-profit organizations, local businesses and some corporate clientele. Let's now take a look at how these environmental factors affect the marketing of the hotel.
In Annie Leonard's video “The Story of Bottled Water,” she introduces her audience into the downfalls of continuing to buy bottled water instead of just using tap water. Annie Leonard did an extraordinary job of convincing her audience that bottled water isn't a healthy alternative to tap water through an effective balance of logos and pathos appeals. She starts by explaining why we don't need watered bottles because they are less quality and less regulated than tap water. Annie Leonard then disputes the cost of bottled water compared to the cost of tap water. Annie Leonard applies many logos appeals in her video involving bottled water by questioning the audience and asking direct questions that need common sense to answer. She also endorses powerful pathos appeals to connect directly to her audience throughout the video.
As environmental concerns become more of an issue for consumers, they will be more aware of the impact that a company has on themselves and the environment and therefore be more conscious of who they support with their dollar.
To help further explain these misleading claims, a well recognized company by the media is called Terrachoice. “The Terrachoice Environment Marketing Consulting practice converts knowledge of markets, science and marketing into winning, client-centered solutions to help sustainability leaders deliver results” (“The "six sins," 2007). Terrachoice has conducted a study of the “Environmental Claims in North American Consumer Markets” and found shocking results that made them want to give warning to potential consumers about the ‘six sins of greenwashing. The Terrachoice Company was designed to improve the communication between the purchasers and consumers, helping to enhance, strengthen, and prove market relationship.
Belz, F., & Peattie, K 2012, Sustainability marketing: a global perspective (2nd ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.
The power of “green” advertising lies in its sheer ubiquity and its particularly charismatic approach to manipulation. It feels good to support a cause, and who could possibly be (openly) against the environment? Because of its broad manipulation coefficient, “green” advertising--advertising that panders to our desire to make the planet clean again--is making a comeback. Innumerable advertisements still contain the sublime appeal of helping the planet. Green still
While watching “The Story of Bottled Water,” I thought to myself, “Is this all true, or is this really being blown out of proportion?” I simply couldn’t grasp the idea that we as consumers are that wasteful. So, I decided to watch the film again to really grasp the narrator’s message. Then it hit me: in high school AP History, we discussed how bottled water started and how it has become a multi billion-dollar company. From a business point of view, it seems so ignorantly deceptive, yet it was absolutely genius. With a little marketing, bottled water became a huge success. However, it is killing the environment and the water is usually comparable to tap water regardless. The “The Story of Bottled Water” is a very well-made short
The more experience you have putting these tips into practice, the more they will become instinct. And by making informed decisions and ensuring that the product’s claims are accurate, you can feel good about the choices you make and their positive impact on the environment. If more greenwashing means that marketers are increasingly responding to the demand for sustainable products, this could be a positive trend. If left unchecked, greenwashing creates significant risks. Consumers will give up on marketers and manufacturers, and give up on the hope that their spending might be put to good use. Recent developments suggest companies should be prepared for the new wave of measures. Greenwashing has become a buzz word for consumers and the media. Unfortunately, the rules are not always clear when it comes to responsible environmental marketing.
1.- INTRODUCTION: Without doubt, the 20th century has changed our priorities, especially when it comes to the way we do business. Popular sustainable business models, as advertised in the media, have evolved into much more than a moral obligation or an external requirement to generate money. Essentially, they are forcing companies to reinvent the systems and approaches with which they generate value and profitability for the company.