My smartadvertising

A Carbon-neutral Pile Of Manure

Ordinarily I might take environmental problems seriously but lately I cant. Because the only people imploring me to are advertisers.

Every marketer it seems wants to prove how green they are. As usual our industry just follows the herd. And because of the ecoawakening were now lecturing consumers that they need to be green too.

How? By buying more stuff.

In Georgia for example the state is promoting environmental awareness via an Energy Star taxfree weekend. People are getting a sales tax break when they buy new energyefficient refrigerators dryers etc. In other words we have to consume more in order to consume less throwing away perfectly good appliances in the process.

Is consumption always the best answer to the our problems? Is advertising the best voice of reason?

Im not old comparatively speaking but at a certain point I recognize when Ive lived through a particular cycle in the pop culture. And environmental awareness yes Ive lived through this before. In the late 80s Earth Day got hip again. We banned CFCs from hair spray and Styrofoam boxes from McDonalds because of a hole in the ozone layer. We started recycling newspapers and plastic thinking we were saving the planet. That lasted a couple of years then the Ford Explorer came out. Concern about CFCs gave way to a feeding frenzy for SUVs.

Ironically all this greenwashing is a result of how wildly successful advertising and marketing is. Ad agencies came into their own in postWWII America where our industry routinely sold a dream of suburbia: shiny chromeinfused cars vinyl siding shag carpeting and frostfree refrigerators.

Comfortably ensconced in our airconditioned lifestyle our massive consumption has put a undue strain on the worlds resources. But now other countries who have fed our largesse think China India etc want a piece of our energythirsty lifestyle for their own. And thats compounding the problem.

So now global warming and fate of the planet is on our front burner and as consumers well do almost anything to show we care. In lieu of a real change in the way we live our clients are more than willing to hire us to sell the solution. And what’s really perverse is that brands are charging a premium for the privilege of feeling good about helping the environment. Brands like Method cleaning products or beauty products from The Body Shop cost significantly more than other brands and organic produce commands a higher price than conventionally grown. Frankly many families whose budgets are stretched to the breaking point cant afford to buy green when price is their primary motivating factor. Which is a shameeven if families want to make a difference they cant afford to and we make them feel worse for that shortcoming.

The ultimate load of environmentallyfueled nonsense however is coming via good ol corporate brandpolishing TV spots for companies who have spotty histories. Its hard for me to believe that global monoliths like Chevron BP Dow and GE are going to lead the environmental awareness revolution despite their multimillion ad campaigns dedicated to concepts like ecohumanology or whatever theyre calling it this week. But agencies many of them good ones are perfectly content to shovel this compost on the public.

Its hard not to view all this greenwashing with a jaundiced eye. But maybe theres a solution.

Id love it if the advertising business was more environmentallyfriendly. And I know just where to start. Im sick of clients that demand rounds and rounds of pointless changes to their workchanges that require more printouts more mockups more electricity for the computers and more gasoline to drive to and from client meetings. How about we cut out all the layers of client approvals and the mass quantities of comp materials needed for those presentations?

Of course I wont hold my breath waiting for that to happen. Because the ad industry never takes its own advice. Well save the real action for someone else. Were into empty gestures. Which is why Im thinking about purchasing a carbon offset for the electricity Ive used writing this column. Maybe Ill go plant a tree. But since theres a total watering ban where I live due to a recordbreaking drought itll likely die.

Hey its the groupthought that counts right?

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Branding. Religion. Censorship. Office politics. Global politics. Sexual politics. And getting drunk during a job interview.
Since 2002 Danny G. a.k.a. Dan Goldgeier has been writing the most provocative advertising columns ever published. They’re all witty thoughtful and probing and a must read for those who want a perspective rarely seen in traditional industry publications.
An Atlantabased copywriter and ad school graduate Dan has worked at shops big and small. He reads incessantly about advertising and is a whiz at rock roll trivia. Learn more about him by visiting his copywriting website or AdColumnist.com the View From The Cheap Seats Archive website. You may also find articles by Danny G at TalentZoo.com.

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