Large corporate companies have proven time and time again that they have no limit to the marketing schemes they are willing to pull to make a sale. In a world facing increasing global warming, overflowing landfills and toxic air; the newest marketing technique is a little something called “greenwashing”. As its name suggests, companies are essentially ‘brain washing’ consumers to believe that they are buying a green product aimed to save the planet when in reality the company is benefiting more than Mother Nature is.
After reading Taylor Swift’s blog (a fellow Comm 101 student) titles “Bunnies Don’t Need Lipstick”, I realized that greenwashing is being practiced by some of my favourite cosmetics companies without me even noticing. One of these companies includes Clinique who claim that they “do not conduct animal testing on [their] products or ingredients, nor ask others to test on [their] behalf, except when required by law.” There are some countries such as China that require all products to be tested in their laboratories before selling. These companies such as MAC and Benefit claim that they avoid animal cruelty when possible, however if that were true they wouldn’t be selling in China. Other companies such as Lush and The Body Shop still manage to be financially successful while maintaining completely cruelty free. Rather than greenwashing, they invest their money in buying truly natural ingredients and letting that attract the customers rather than false or over exaggeratedclaims.
Another example of this tactic in use is Huggies “Pure and Natural” diapers. They package the diapers in green coloured plastic and label it “100% organic cotton” to deceive the buyer into thinking that they are benefiting the planet. In reality, the cotton on the outside is organic but the cotton in actual contact with the babies skin is still full of chemicals, just the same as regular diapers. On top of this, the diapers are not anymore biodegradable than regular diapers and still crowd the landfills.
I believe that these greenwashing techniques are relatively see-through when compared to companies that are truly green oriented. Consumers will soon begin to walk away from false claims if they believe strongly enough in decreasing pollution. Rather than greenwashing these companies should instead take measures to actually benefit the planet even if it decreases total profit in the short run. Customers will repay eco friendly companies by remaining loyal to them, which can increase profits in the long run.
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