Maybe BP needs to take [...]]]> With all of the greenwashed adds for oil companies like BP, it is nice for a change to look at and add that really speaks the truth.  This ad by Humble Oil (now part of Exxon) from 1962 is possibly the most honest straight forward add I have ever seen.  

Maybe BP needs to take lesson from Humble and start putting out a little more honest ads too instead of hogwash like this.

This is the sort of mentality a lot of people and companies have regarding the environment, but if you don’t agree with it, you shouldn’t be afraid to speak your mind or boycott their products.  Once companies realize that we [...]]]> Ever wonder how to explain greenwashing?  Well I think this cartoon sums it up quite nicely.

This is the sort of mentality a lot of people and companies have regarding the environment, but if you don’t agree with it, you shouldn’t be afraid to speak your mind or boycott their products.  Once companies realize that we can’t be fooled with something as small as a green label, recycling arrows, or comedic green adds, they will actually start to make some changes that will better the environment and not just improve sales.

Here are two adds about clean coal.  See if you can tell which one is truly greenwashing and which one is a satire.

While these two might be easy to label as greenwashing, to get an idea what we are all up against, here is the ad that won the most effective green ad of the year.  What do you think?  Is this greenwashing, or a step in the right direction?

Of course, there [...]]]> As you know, I was anticipating being tackled by the famous Super Bowl commercials on Sunday, feeling myself at the bottom of a two ton pile-on of cloying green-washing… but I was as pleasantly surprised to see that they weren’t all making empty promises in order to convince you to buy their product.

Of course, there were a few industries taking advantage of the green label, but a lot of claims during these ads were quite valid. I am fully in support of such gestures, and as long as these strategies really are designed to make a difference, I don’t care if the companies are just mentioning buzzwords to galvanize sales.

However, before I get too mushy, the cynic in me has to pounce on one ad right away… Budweiser, maker of Bud Light, committed the most obvious foul of the night, using environmentalism for a cheap laugh aimed at a presumed audience of “beer dudes” who find “going green” comical. Well, this beer dude didn’t laugh (and wasn’t drinking Bud Light, either!).

If you care to know, I was drinking a homebrew, and out of reused bottles to boot (no house made out of Bud Cans for me, please).  Not only was the homebrew delicious, but it required no shipping or recycling, making it a great tasting, greenest option (until my hops seeds take root in the backyard this spring and allow me to harvest them instead of buying them).

Another ad that at first glance looked like green-washing turned out to be my favorite moment of the evening (other than the Saints on-side kick and tasting my wife’s homemade guacamole).  Audi’s “Green Police” commercial actually had a genuine message and a green product to promote.

Admittedly, I could think of a lot of greener ways to spend 6 million than on a 1 minute advertising spot, but at least this new Audi car gets 45 mpg, which is a lot more than most non-hybrids can claim.

Speaking of Super Bowl Ads, you won’t get a chance to see this one (poor PETA, as if the repercussions of my blogpost last week weren’t enough already to send them in a tail spin for the week…). NBC deemed their commercial “too risqué” for family viewing and did not air it during the Bowl.  All they did was try and make vegetables a little sexier…so I present to you now… to… uh… promote vegetables!

So lift up that heavily advertised beer and toast vegetables and the efforts to go green! By the way, after my fair share of the 11ft of guacamole, I am trying out Meatless Monday; how about you?