It’s Not Easy Being Green
Or is it?
If you watch television, and you watch shows on CBS (and you don’t skip through the commercials on your DVR) you might have seen a car ad branded with a green leaf in the lower right corner. Or a power company ad, a medical devices ad or even one for your favorite beverage, all branded with the same leaf.
No, they didn’t all get bought by Truvia. It’s the logo for a new type of advertising, called EcoAds, launched by CBS in January. The leaf is the network’s way of telling consumers that the company running the ad is doing more than just selling their products or services. They’ve committed to supporting sustainability while they do it.
Basically, EcoAds are a sponsorship package advertisers can choose to purchase as part of their media buy. CBS turns around and spends 10% of this media buy to fund environmental improvement and clean energy projects at a local level, through newly purchased EcoMedia. It’s available across the company’s various media channels–national and local TV, radio, outdoor and online–and to any advertiser who is willing to pay for it, regardless of the product or service being sold.
A TV spot (voiced by Laurence Fishburne and sounding oddly like he’s speaking to Neo in The Matrix) from CBS targeted at consumers explains that when you see the leaf on an advertiser’s spot, “you’ll know they contributed to green initiatives in your community. “
Technically this is true. But is this really being green, or is this a case of greenwashing?
Comments
"It’s available ... to any advertiser who is willing to pay for it, regardless of the product or service being sold."
WOW. So if I was Ford, I could buy this sponsorship package and advertise my Ford F-150 gas guzzler with this CBS supplied green leaf in the corner? That is some sneaky sneaky greenwashing! This package should only be available to those advertisers that are advertising an environmentally friendly product.
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