Marketing strategies have
undergone significant evolution, from traditional pamphlets to social media dominance,
marketing has come a long way. Despite this evolution, underlying theme has
remained unchanged, i.e. to stay relevant in market, and today’s effective way to
remain relevant in the market is by claiming that ‘we are environmentally
friendly’. This is a clever strategy employed by many companies. Moreover, sometimes
companies spend more on advertising their environmental efforts than on
actually minimizing their environmental impact. This practice is known as
Greenwashing.
According to Britannica,
Greenwashing is a form of deceptive marketing in which a
company, product, or business practice is falsely or excessively promoted as
being environmentally friendly.
Are Greenwashing and
Green Marketing the same?
According to
Investopedia, Green marketing refers
to the practice of developing and advertising products based on their real or
perceived environmental sustainability.
Examples of green
marketing include advertising the reduced emissions associated with a product’s
manufacturing process, or the use of post-consumer recycled materials for a
product's packaging.
Whereas Greenwashing is
a marketing tactic that deceives customers into believing a product is
environmentally friendly when, in reality, it is a technique to popularize a
product.
Here are some notable
examples of greenwashing:
1. Ryanair Greenwashing
Case –
Ryanair is a United Kingdom
based low-cost airlines, in 2019 they had advertised themselves as ‘Lowest
Emission Airlines’. The UK’s Advertising Standard Agency took down their commercial
on grounds of misleading advertisement. ¹
Coco-Cola and Nestle,
both had claimed that their plastic bottles are ‘100% Recycled’, consumer
bodies and Environmental groups have raised a complaint at the European Commission
to further investigate such misleading claims made by FMCG giants. ²
Earlier to counter the
hybrid and electric car rise, Volkswagen had advertised their vehicles as ‘Clean
diesel’ vehicles.
In 2015 Volkswagen was
exposed for installing ‘defect devices’ in their vehicles, whenever the
vehicles were tested for emission, the installed ‘Defect devices’ software used
to sense it and accordingly tweak the vehicles performance to reduce emissions.
Volkswagen had also apologized and recalled their many products. ³
Are there any counter
measures available against Greenwashing?
The answer is yes. There
are two possible solution which are currently used.
The first solution
involves having an eco-label on the products. These are placed on products which
indicate that certain environmental standards were followed while making that
product. These labels help the consumer to make an informed choice which
purchasing anything. These are genuine green marketing tools which can be
deployed by companies.
The second solution involves implementing strict legislation with penal provision to deter corporates from making deceptive advertisement claim. Few countries are having direct or indirect statutory provisions to safeguard consumers against greenwashing.
Example:
· Europeans Union’s Greenwashing Directives
released in 2024 which majorly targets Unfair Commercial Practices deployed by
companies.
· In India Department
of Consumer Affairs and Central Consumer Protection Authority are preparing
Guidelines for “Prevention of Greenwashing by the companies with a view to
protect consumer interest”. Until now consumers were indirectly availing
remedies under Consumer Protection Act, 2019 to safeguard their rights.
· Even France do
not have any direct provision to deal with greenwashing, the use provisions
under the Consumer Code to safeguards citizens against false and misleading
advertisement.
· With an update to its
"Green Guides," the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is
taking aim at large firms' misleading environmental marketing strategies. The
purpose of this modification is to provide the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
more legal leverage when bringing legal action against businesses that mislead
consumers about environmental responsibility and sustainability.
References:
1. https://news.sky.com/story/ryanair-adverts-banned-for-making-misleading-co2-emissions-claims- 11926471
2. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67343893
3. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772
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