Sunday, April 20, 2008

Green Marketing is a big Gray...

Great article from SF Chronicle - Green product seals are gray area

The article discusses how many of the seals used in marketing are meaningless.

My favorite part of the article was the examples of green claims that are questionable...
  • Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars are labeled as "100% natural" - but there is no government standard for what the word "natural" means except for meat and poultry. The list of ingredients in these granola bars is practically identical to a rival brand of granola bars that don't call themselves "natural."
  • Jennie-O Turkey Store ground turkey is billed as "all natural." The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that natural poultry can't have artificial ingredients or added color. However, it's legal for "natural" turkey to have been raised on a diet that included hormones, antibiotics or genetically modified corn.
  • Gillette shaving gel has a "no CFCs" label. That's factually accurate but irrelevant, since CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons, which damage the ozone layer) have been banned in the United States for nearly 30 years.

It seems there is no definition of what Natural means. The term that was not used in the article is green wash.

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