Persuasive Essay On Greenwashing

540 Words2 Pages

There are many businesses today that claim to be going ‘green’. But are these businesses really as environmentally friendly as they say they are? Labels such as “organic”, “recyclable” and “green” are popular terms in today’s consumer marketplace. These labels are used as marketing tools to try and ‘greenwash’ consumers. Greenwashing is a marketing strategy companies use to try and make themselves look more environmentally friendly than they actually are. Companies that engage in greenwashing mislead consumers about firm environmental performance or the environmental benefits of a product. Organizations engage in Greenwashing with the objective to give consumers and policy makers the impression that the company is taking steps to manage its ecological footprint. This is increasingly becoming a problem because it negatively affects consumer’s …show more content…

The advertisement emphasizes ways in which Chevrolet is going green through increasing fuel efficiency, producing vehicles that run on E85 Ethanol, and producing hybrid vehicles. Since the campaign was made public, GM’s website, logo, and other mediums of connecting to the public have included very ‘green’ images and sayings that assume its support for the environment. It almost seemed too good to be true, an automobile company producing environmentally friendly vehicles? A couple weeks after the campaign was launched, it was noted that only a small fraction of the vehicles produced by GM were actually gas-free. Also General Motors is part of the Coalition for Vehicle Choice, which is an organization that is against laws towards reducing auto emissions. It is evident that General Motors and is guilty of greenwashing their products by acting dishonestly towards the

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