The Overwhelming World of Green Advertising

The Overwhelming World of Green Advertising

Today many customers feel green advertising is extremely overwhelming and the United States government is slowly trying to change that. According to the Ecolabel Index there are 349 certifications and seals authenticating eco-friendliness and in North America alone, 88. Kevin Wilhelm is the chief executive of Sustainable Business Consulting and believes there are too many seals. "About once a week, I have a client that will bring up a new certification I've never even heard of, and I'm in this industry." (Vega, 1)How are there so many? The reason is that any company can create their own seal involving eco-friendliness and certify themselves. In 2009 that Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) required companies to inform consumers if they were certified by themselves or by a third party. (Vega, 1) In 1998, the government tried to limit confusion in green advertising by having the FTC make a change in the “Green Guides.” The change required that a product’s green statement had to be specific. Unfortunately, the companies began to specify how their products were falsely good for the environment. Recently, the government has begun to punish companies who disobey the laws about green advertisement. In 2008, Windex and Shout cleaning products misled consumers to believe their certification was from a third party when really they had certified themselves. In 2009 Kmart was charged with saying their paper products were biodegradable when they were not. The government needs to release one official eco-friendly seal so consumers can verify which products are really eco-friendly. Mr. Wilhelm said the many seals make it difficult for consumers to know which ones are true. "There's no way for the average consumer or even for a C.E.O to know which ones to go for or what they should get." An official stamp should be produced so consumers will not question eco-friendly claims.