Greenwashing – Should We Believe the Hype?


These cartoons clearly point out the contradictions of green marketing, yet it has such a dramatic impact on consumer decisions. Many companies undertake “green” marketing for the sake of protecting themselves, like how BP was unfortunately implicated because of an accident.

Is green marketing a trend that will soon fade away as stricter policies are formed to manage the sins of sustainability marketing? It is evident that environmental issues are not just fads, but would the development of these issues, with the cooperation of environmental groups and the government, affect the extent to which companies market themselves and their products as sustainable?

In my opinion, if such changes are implemented, it would only take place in developed countries where there is the political infrastructure to enforce rules regarding environmental marketing. In Canada, US, UK, there have been some guidelines released to deal with the increasing number of complaints about false and vague claims of advertisements.

Not only do developing countries lack the political infrastructure to deal with this problem, but also the fact that there are other more dire issues to resolve, such as its economy, unemployment and health care.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *