Green Marketing or Greenwashing?
As a means of demonstrating their social responsibility, many companies engage in cause or green marketing efforts; however, such efforts can backfire. In recent years, the terms greenwashingand cause washing have emerged to refer to marketing efforts that capitalize on the goodwill associated with environmental or charitable causes but reflect minimal commitment.
What to Do (and How to Do It)...
In this interactivity, you'll read about Patagonia's "Don't Buy This Jacket" campaign and the cause washing phenomena. Then you're going to decide if you judge this to be green marketing or greenwashing and how it impacts your likelihood to purchase.
- Learn about the Patagonia campaign.
- In 2011, on Black Friday, the most important retail sales day of the year, Patagonia rocked the marketing world by running the "Don't Buy This Jacket" ad in the New York Times and on the homepage of their website.
- To learn more, read the "Don't Buy This Jacket" Adweek article.
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- Was this a corporation putting their environmental principles ahead of their financial goals? Or was this just a brilliant way to grab Black Friday headlines and sell a lot of full-price product? Or was it both?
- Learn more about values-based shopping (and cause washing).
- Read this Forbes contributor article: "Truthiness and Consequences..."
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- Share your opinion on the Patagonia campaign with a forum post that answers the following questions:
- Do you judge this campaign to be more green marketing or greenwashing? Why?
- Would this campaign make you more or less likely to buy from Patagonia. Why?