The Green Movement: Environmentalism Today
After the grassroots demand for environmental action in the 1970s, Americans looked to incorporate the new environmental principals into everyday life. "More than at any other time in American history, the living patterns of everyday American life in the 1980s included a thought or awareness of humans' impact on the world around them (Black and Lybecker vol. 2, 129). Soon the environmental awareness made it into basic patterns of daily life and mass culture.
The "green culture" was when the choices people made consciously reflected the impact on the environment. Many scientists and active environmentalists thought that the green culture was a "depthless attempt to exploit environmental greenness without understanding the real issues" and they thought green culture was the consumer America's example of "greenwashing" that was seen in corporate America (Black and Lybecker vol. 2, 129).
The "green culture" was when the choices people made consciously reflected the impact on the environment. Many scientists and active environmentalists thought that the green culture was a "depthless attempt to exploit environmental greenness without understanding the real issues" and they thought green culture was the consumer America's example of "greenwashing" that was seen in corporate America (Black and Lybecker vol. 2, 129).
Greenwashing
This clip gives more information on Greenwashing Video 6
| Greenwashing is a term used for "corporations who try to present an image of being environmentally friendly without necessarily making any changes in their actual business practices" (Black and Lybecker 146). Greenwashing can be traced back to the late 1960s and the growing environmentalism.
In 1969 alone, public utilities spent more than $300 million on advertising, this was more than eight times what they spent on the anti-pollution research they were pushing in their ads. Continuing to grow in the 70s and 80s it reached a new peak on the 20th anniversary of Earth Day in 1990. Businesses were given the opportunity to appear green, even for a short time. This appealed to consumers who were looking to support the Earth Day trend. |
These companies were only playing into what the public demanded. In a 1990 poll, 77% of people said that the company's environmental reputation influenced what they bought (Black and Lybecker 147). By the 21st century "greening" was an essential part of public relations
British PetroleumPhoto 25
British Petroleum was the world's second largest oil company and one of the world's largest corporations. It advertised their new identity of going "Beyond Petroleum" by buying Solorex, the largest solar energy corporation for $45 million to cover the $5 billion the company spent over five years on oil exploration in Alaska (Black and Lybecker 148).
| Ford's Earth Day GreenwashFor Earth Day 2000, Ford Motor Company announced that all corporate brand advertising would have an environmental theme. They expected to spend as much money on the greenwash as they would on coming out with a new line of cars (Black and Lybecker 148).
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Above is a British Petroleum Advertisement. This commercial is promising that BP will reduce carbon emissions. However, their company is one of the main reasons for carbon emissions. This is a hollow promise that can't be measured. The only way to really reduce carbon emissions is by stopping the use of this fossil fuel. Video 7
| Ford Hybrid Commercial In the Advertisement above Ford uses nature as a way of bringing in customers. The leaves that grow out of a car give the impression that this car is literally made from the earth and, therefore, cannot hurt the earth. But there is never even a mention of the earth, we just assume it will help because of the word "hyrbid" and the natural look. Video 8
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British Petroleum proposed a new slogan "Beyond Petroleum" in 2004 and have kept up on their promise to look beyond oil for energy. However, when they announced they were spending $1.5 billion on "alternative" energy they did not specify exactly what that meant. This included "not just wind and solar and biofuels but also natural gas-fired power stations" (guardian.co.uk). Natural gas might be less polluting "than coal and oil, but at the end of the day it's a fossil fuel filling the atmostphere with CO2" (guardian.co.uk).
| This gives the viewer the impression of the car actually coming from the earth with leaves flowing out of the dashboard, and vines growing up near it. This, and the lack of real facts, leaving only a few statistics like “41 miles per gallon” clearly written over and over, give the consumer a really good feeling about this car. But what they don’t mention is how it will actually help the earth or any hard facts that we can grasp and compare to other cars. We only assume that it will be beneficial to the earth because the word hybrid suggests environmentalism.
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The clip above is a comedic award being presented to BP for best "greenwash" in 2008 Video 12
| The clip above of a debate on Walmart's Greenwashing
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This Walmart commercial tells consumers how they are helping the earth. Video 15
| Above is an Audi commercial showing a world in which it is against the law to harm the environment. The Audi car in this ad is deemed acceptable by the officials and therefore must be good for the environment. Video 14
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Audi is pointing at every other environmental concern that has become known to the mainstream. They are taking the spotlight off themselves to point out what everyone else is doing wrong while allowing themselves to look the best. There is no real facts in this commercial about the car they are selling and they plan to keep the consumer in the dark about what they plan to buy.