Shell's Environmental Policies- Are They GreenWashing Us Again
A new campaign designed by ad agency JWT, part of London-based WPP for Shell (Royal Dutch Shell). The new ad Shell released is once again causing the oil company’s critics to yell “greenwashing", not the first time they have been accused of exaggerating environmental policies now is it.
The environmental friendly advertising campaign 
focuses on Shell’s use of technology to harvest oil, the print ad causing the trouble for Shell features a diagram of a human brain full of alternative and renewable fuel energy sources. The critics claim, contrary to what the ad implies, Shell is taking steps backwards in terms of clean energy.
The Environmental Leader shared the following on their website:
A Greenpeace rep says that the company is trying to hide the fact that they’ve been pulling funding from renewable energy projects to extract oil from Canada’s tar sands. (The company recently said it would stop investing in Europe if utilities are forced to pay for emissions permits through auctions.)
Last August, Shell was reprimanded by UK’s Advertising Standards Authority for violating advertising rules when it claimed that the two oil projects in Canada and the U.S. involved sustainable forms of energy.
That wasn’t the first time Shell faced criticism over its “green” advertising. Last year, Friends of the Earth Europe filed simultaneous complaints to the national advertising standards authorities of Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UK about a Shell advertisement which Friends of the Earth says depicts the outline of an oil refinery emitting flowers rather than smoke and claims that it uses its “waste CO2 to grow flowers and [its] waste sulphur to make concrete.”
JWT says that the new greenwashing claims are unfair. Stef Tiratelli, JWT’s manager for Shell, says that the ASA doesn’t have much experience with green energy, and they’ve already made changes to their ads to comply with ASA standards.
According to the ASA’s Environmental Claims Survey 2008, 94 percent of ads with environmental claims were compliant with advertising codes.
In the U.S., the FTC has held three workshops to examine issues concerning the marketing of carbon offsets and renewable energy, green packaging, and green buildings and textiles.
With the FTC expected to update its “Green Guides” this year, the commission is likely to seek legal precedents by going after companies whose green claims have been under investigation.
focuses on Shell’s use of technology to harvest oil, the print ad causing the trouble for Shell features a diagram of a human brain full of alternative and renewable fuel energy sources. The critics claim, contrary to what the ad implies, Shell is taking steps backwards in terms of clean energy.The Environmental Leader shared the following on their website:
A Greenpeace rep says that the company is trying to hide the fact that they’ve been pulling funding from renewable energy projects to extract oil from Canada’s tar sands. (The company recently said it would stop investing in Europe if utilities are forced to pay for emissions permits through auctions.)
Last August, Shell was reprimanded by UK’s Advertising Standards Authority for violating advertising rules when it claimed that the two oil projects in Canada and the U.S. involved sustainable forms of energy.
That wasn’t the first time Shell faced criticism over its “green” advertising. Last year, Friends of the Earth Europe filed simultaneous complaints to the national advertising standards authorities of Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UK about a Shell advertisement which Friends of the Earth says depicts the outline of an oil refinery emitting flowers rather than smoke and claims that it uses its “waste CO2 to grow flowers and [its] waste sulphur to make concrete.”
JWT says that the new greenwashing claims are unfair. Stef Tiratelli, JWT’s manager for Shell, says that the ASA doesn’t have much experience with green energy, and they’ve already made changes to their ads to comply with ASA standards.
According to the ASA’s Environmental Claims Survey 2008, 94 percent of ads with environmental claims were compliant with advertising codes.
In the U.S., the FTC has held three workshops to examine issues concerning the marketing of carbon offsets and renewable energy, green packaging, and green buildings and textiles.
With the FTC expected to update its “Green Guides” this year, the commission is likely to seek legal precedents by going after companies whose green claims have been under investigation.
8 comments:
environment protection and saving the planet earth is everyone's responsibility now. firms like shell should sincerely try to advocate this without ambiguity. your article is an eyeopener.
We are in danger now, our job it's to take care of the planet, our home, if we keep doing what are we doing until now we gonna sorry in shortly.
Good luck to all of us.
Well if this people is killing the nature they should pay... not with money with their lives... because doing this they are not just killing teh nature they are killing people too.
Thanks for sharing, nice blog.
Thanks, nice blog
Thanks for sharing, nice blog.
When it comes to anvoironment, rules and ads are very difficult to define...
Companies don't want to "lose money".. (which means decrease profits) and Shell is not different
i think that is how they can help the planet by putting all this advertising about changing ourways and do it must of all.
Thanks for the nice blog. It was very useful for me. Keep sharing such ideas in the future as well. This was actually what I was looking for, and I am glad to came here! Thanks for sharing the such information with us.
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