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Contents3
  1. History of the Term
  2. Notable examples
  3. References

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Greenwashing is a form of advertising or marketing that deceptively uses social and environmental public relations (PR) in order to persuade the public, investors, and consumers that a company's products, goals, or policies are environmentally-friendly. Companies that intentionally adopt greenwashing strategies often do so to distance themselves from their environmental lapses or those of their suppliers.

Their [Shell's] glitzy advertisements can no longer conceal their climate criminal behaviour – polluting the planet, raking in record profits, and sanitising their own image to continue the climate-wrecking cycle.

— former Green Party MP, United Kingdom, Caroline Lucas[1]

History of the Term

While the term itself was coined in a 1986 essay about the hotel industry's "save the towel" movement,[2] the practice has been traced back to the 1950s with the "keep America beautiful" campaign that places the burden of reducing and recycling litter onto the consumer and shifts the focus away from corporate responsibility.[3]

Notable examples

  • BP-post-Gulf oil spill advertisements[1]
  • The Coca-Cola Company - continuation of the "keep America beautiful" movement[3]
  • Volkswagen - emissions scandal[4]
  • Shell - misleading advertisements implying that Shell was more green than was actually the case[5]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kakkad, Ria (15 Sep 2023). "Is BP's latest campaign nothing more than 'sophisticated greenwashing'?". Sustainability / Beat. Archived from the original on 8 Dec 2023. Retrieved 13 Jul 2025.
  2. ↑ Motavalli, Jim (12 Feb 2011). "A History of Greenwashing: How Dirty Towels Impacted the Green Movement". AOL. Archived from the original on 22 Aug 2024. Retrieved 13 Jul 2025.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Business-Managed Environment — Front Groups — Keep America Beautiful". herinst.org. 2009. Archived from the original on 25 Feb 2012. Retrieved 13 Jul 2025.
  4. ↑ Plungis, Jeff (25 Sep 2015). "Volkswagen emissions scandal: Forty years of greenwashing - the well-travelled road taken by VW". The Independent. Archived from the original on 5 Apr 2025. Retrieved 13 Jul 2025.
  5. ↑ Meredith, Sam (7 Jun 2023). "Oil giant Shell's UK ad campaign banned for being 'likely to mislead' consumers". Archived from the original on 18 Jun 2023. Retrieved 21 Jul 2025.
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