How to Look Out for Greenwashing in Advertisements
The Rise of Sustainability in Advertising
It seems as if this generation has been striving to call out brands for not being sustainable, testing on animals, and not using ingredients for the best of the public’s interest. Brands are rapidly rebranding themselves to fit these new standards. With that, a new question has arisen: Are brands truthful to the public?
Greenwashing
Since brands are striving to adapt to becoming more sustainable as a whole, a new term has emerged… greenwashing. “Greenwashing is the process of conveying a false impression or misleading information about how a company’s products are environmentally sound.” Brands are now stretching the truth to try and persuade their consumers to buy their products because it “helps” the planet. Another form of greenwashing is when companies lie about using healthier ingredients in their products when in reality they disguise the chemical under another name so it is harder to recognize. An example of this is when a brand at Target of menstruation products claimed that their products had no bleach in them. Thousands of people rushed to Target to get their hands on the organic (and, may I add, much more pricey) menstruation product. Then, later on, it came out that the brand still had bleach in their products. Instead of saying “bleach” in the ingredients, it now says “titanium dioxide,” which is a chemical used for bleaching products and making them appear more white. I even fell victim to this false advertising. Now they have a lawsuit for claiming that they are a 100% organic brand. This is why it is so important to be educated on what you are buying, and the ingredients inside the products. Brands aren’t always disclosing what ingredients they use.
Why Research Before You Buy?
You may ask, “why should I research when I buy things? I don’t have time.” I was telling myself that too when I kept seeing TikToks of brands tricking us saying their products were organic when they weren’t. You do research every single day. Have you looked up restaurant reviews on Yelp recently? Chances are a lot of us have. That is research. Have you Googled a pair of shoes you saw your favorite social media influencer was wearing? That is research. Have you read reviews on Amazon to determine what pair of earrings would last better on your beach vacation for spring break? That is research. You get my point, everything is research. Why not just make a few simple Google searches and find out what is really in a product? We have all the information we could ever dream of, all at our fingertips. Let’s use it to educate ourselves into purchasing products that we are intending to buy, not ones that are tricking us into buying them.
Is This Really Organic?
A great way to find out if chemicals you would rather not consume are in the products you are buying is to educate yourself on potential harmful ingredients/chemicals. When purchasing anything you are already doing research without thinking. A simple Google search will point you in the right direction. Another way I like to look out for harmful chemicals is by using scanner apps. One app that I have used in the past is called Yuka. Yuka is essentially a scanner in which you scan the barcode of food and it gives you a simplified breakdown of what the ingredients are and how they either can benefit you or harm you. The only downside to this app is that it doesn’t catch all potential harmful ingredients and it also doesn’t include most beauty products. Another app I also use is Trash Panda. Trash Panda is just like Yuka in the sense that it is a scanner and it scans the barcodes of products and tells you the ingredients in a simplified manner. The major difference is that it not only has more products in its database but if it doesn’t recognize the barcode, it advises you to take a picture of the ingredients and it can break them down that way. Being a college student, I mostly shop at Aldi and most of the Aldi barcodes don’t show up on the apps but Trash Panda makes it easy to upload the ingredients and see what they mean.
Don’t Get Overwhelmed
If you are trying to avoid chemicals in your food and beauty products it is very easy to get overwhelmed. There are a lot of chemicals that people prefer not to use in their daily lives but in America it is almost inevitable to avoid certain chemicals. Instead, control what you can and try to not get ahead of yourself. Choose one product to swap out a month instead of buying an entire new collection of beauty products at one time. Instead of believing the label of “organic” or “cruelty free” do a few simple Google searches or Trash Panda scans and find out if the product that the brand is advertising is for you. Knowledge is power, remember that.
Maddie Zimmerman is a junior studying Advertising and Public Relations. She is the Associate Media Coordinator of GrandPR, Grand Valley State University’s student-run, nationally-affiliated, and student-run integrated communications firm. This is her second semester in GVPRSSA and GrandPR. She also works for GVSU’s Seidman College of Business as a social media content creator. Additionally she is a staff writer for Grand Valley Lanthorn’s opinion column. In Maddie’s free time she loves to hang out with her cat, hike, drink matcha, thrift, and rock climb. After graduation, Maddie hopes to pursue a PR career in the outdoor industry.