Karaoke-style greenwashing campaign asks brands to change their tune
Sustainability review platform wherefrom.org has called out brands that make a song and dance about their green credentials with a karaoke-style takedown.
‘Stop the Wash’ lands on the eve of Earth Day to remind marketers that green slogans alone will not save the planet, incorporating 120 of the most common ‘blandishments’ in its lyrics.
Listeners will be regaled with vacuous phrases such as ‘our mission is green,’ ‘our fueling is clean’ and ‘be the future’ – sentiments that sound good but are largely meaningless.
More than just a satirical stunt, the music video – which is already doing the rounds on Spotify and YouTube – ensures that each green slogan is now enshrined in copyright law, with wherefrom.org threatening to sue any company that uses them without evidence.
Wherefrom.org co-founder Adam Williams said: “Greenwashing is rife around the world, with companies deceiving or exaggerating their green credentials as a marketing ploy to reel in consumers. We want it to stop. Our mission is for every product and company in the world to have a Wherefrom score – so everyone can make more sustainable choices, forcing companies to become more sustainable. With so many phony ‘green’ campaigns out there, we hope that ‘Stop the Wash’ will be a clever tactic to call out brands and stop the use of flaky green slogans – if not we’ll sue them using our resident lawyer.”
The campaign follows a European Commission report that established that 42% of corporate ‘green’ claims were either exaggerated, deceptive or outright false.