greenwash

A false or misleading picture of environmental friendliness used to conceal or obscure damaging activities.

People can be cynical about companies hiding behind green ideals, their radars finely tuned to detect a greenwash.

Greta Thunberg has blasted politicians as hypocrites and international climate summits as empty words and greenwash.

To portray with a false or misleading image of environmental friendliness so as to conceal or obscure damaging activities.

But what happens more often is that media “greenwashes” dirty energy sources (coal, gas, nuclear power) as “clean”—a particularly dangerous notion because it belies the threat they pose to our planet and human health.

The commercials were very effective – in 1990, they won an Effie advertising award, and subsequently became a case study at Harvard Business school. They also became notorious among environmentalists, who have proclaimed them the gold standard of greenwashing – the corporate practice of making diverting sustainability claims to cover a questionable environmental record.