Greenwashing & The Auto Industry
Today in class we spoke a lot about the idea and principles behind “greenwashing.” Greenwashing relates to the ability of corporations to ‘fool’ consumers into thinking a product or service is environmentally friendly. This is done to reach the ultimate goal of increasing purchase intentions and thus profits. The article Greenwashed Car Ads Make People Feel Good About Polluting explains how “automakers know if they have any chance of selling cars to consumers, they need to wrap themselves up in a mantle of green.” They are trying to make their product look more earth-friendly than it actually is. Even though we all know that cars are not good for the environment, the ad industry has stepped up to make you feel better about the things that are not green by making them feel green. This is the typical scenario where advertisers are playing with consumers emotions in order for them to buy specific products. The article has links to several car ads that incorporate this concept of greenwashing (check them out).
Do you believe the government should be more involved in preventing this problem? Or is the control that the corporations have over the government too strong that it prevents anything from happening?
Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/20/green-cars-ads-polluting_n_1440830.html
This article is really interesting when you think about the documentary that we watched for class “Who Killed the Electric Car?” Back in the 90s, there was a stylish and popular electric car that was actively stopped by the government and car manufacturers because oil companies weren’t ready to give up their profits.
Now, instead of going back to that technology, which may still be ahead of its time considering our love affair with oil, companies are “greenwashing” existing products to appeal to the environmentally-minded consumers.
I think oil companies are still too powerful in influencing governments, because then, and debatably now, consumer demand for eco-friendly cars is being ignored in favour of support from oil companies.
Same here, I think companies are still influencing the government in their choices. However, an interesting fact is that the car industry are now offering “hybrid cars” which I owned myself. It is yes more eco-friendly in one sense for the oil part, however, in the long-term the engines and batteries are going to have to be replaced, and (1) changing those is extremely costly and (2) the disposal of those waste is questionable. I am totally in favour of having a source of renewable energy such as hydrogen cars or electric cars, however, I think that there is more to think than just the atmosphere (the air) their is also the disposal methods that have to be taken into account. To my eyes, fossil fuels are still an earth “product” but the batteries components are strictly man-made products… Which one is better it is quite questionable.