Abstract
This paper takes an in depth look into how the advertising industry has been influenced by the topic of climate change since the 1940s. With global temperatures and water levels rising the advertising industry has to step up and do its part in working for a promising future for the planet. The successes this industry has had working with environmentalism are discussed as well as the challenges that advertising and the planet are facing in relation climate change.
Keywords: Advertising, climate change, greenwashing
The Earth’s climate and environment are forever being altered. It has been this way since the dawn of time. This time, however, is different. Since the Industrial Age sea levels have risen immensely, the yearly average temperatures have rapidly increased, and the hole in the Ozone Layer has become vastly larger. Climate change “refers to the effects these higher temperatures have on the earth’s natural systems and the impacts that can result” (Hertsgaard 5). Its effects have already begun to destroy the planet, and it will continue to if action is not taken. Therefore, “how will climate change affect me and my future in particular?” This is the big question that has been asked more and more frequently over the years. The answer to that question is plain and simple: humanity is going to undergo a great struggle. Every aspect of every person’s life will be affected. Interestingly enough, climate change will play a huge role in the future of one’s career and the field they choose to work in; however, some job fields have already had to adapt alongside the progressing issue of global warming and a changing world. Some of the affected careers that would typically come to mind are those that include jobs related to science, politics, medicine, and agriculture. Unexpectedly, the advertising industry is directly affected by the planet’s changing climate as well. Although there are notable flaws that come along with the somewhat new concept of green advertising, there are many positive outcomes that have come of it. Advertising is an industry that has been around for hundreds of years in one way or another. It is a forever-changing industry, which always has to adapt to its ever-changing audience and atmosphere. As time goes by the world changes and so do those who live in it. By analyzing the effectiveness of green advertising in the past and present, advertisers can learn what the future of their careers will hold in relation to climate change.
Humans are responsible for global warming and “scientist have high confidence that global temperatures will continue to rise for decades to come, largely due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities” (NASA). Taking action should not be seen as an option for anyone, it is a necessity for everyone. Advertising was created to influence consumers and promote particular products and services; advertising has proven to be particularly important in the push toward living green and the attempt to slow the climate’s terrifying effects on the Earth and its inhabitants. What is the importance of the convergence of climate change and advertising? Advertisers know how to target particular groups of individuals and inform them as well as influence their decisions. Every individual needs to do his or her part in the battle to prevent and slow climate change: “I do not believe we can look for leadership beyond ourselves” (Williams 432). Every person leaves a carbon footprint and advertising can be used to help minimize that. Consumers’ actions can have an immense effect on our world: Professor Lucy Atkins believes that a consumer’s consumption can be seen as one of the most effective factors of ecological change (Atkinson). With green advertising, in particular, consumers can be pushed to purchase products that are more environmentally friendly and less harmful to nature. The concept of green advertising has been used in the past but is now an idea that has become more prevalent today: “Images of a green lifestyle can be linked to product/service choices. Advertisers can highlight the environmental benefits of their products and services to tap the green segment of consumers” (Banerjee et al. 22). Aside from the typical advertisements seen, consumers may also have their opinions swayed by nontraditional forms of advertising, such as public service announcements. With the serious threat of climate change and the many things that come along with it, it is important that the advertising industry realizes the impact that they can have on the carbon footprint that their consumers leave.
A slogan that almost everyone knows is one that was said by the lovable, fictional character Smokey the Bear: “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires!” Released in 1944, this is the United States’ longest running campaign in the history of the Ad Council. It has been successful in serving its purpose in reducing the number of acres lost annually due to forest fires (Ad Age). Aside from being one of the first advertising campaigns created in relation to conservation of the environment, the Smokey the Bear ads were very successful. This campaign set the precedent for environmental advertising in the years to come.
Although there was great progress with the convergence of environmentalism and advertising in the 1900s, not all of the advertising from the past was supportive of acting against climate change. During the environmental crises of the 1960’s, one company attempted to brag about how they were destroying the environment. The Humble Oil Company ran an advertisement boasting about how their business actively contributed to climate change. The threat of climate change and a doomed future were not particularly thought of yet when Humble Oil chose to release the ad. The advertisement was posted in the 1962 edition of Life Magazine stating, “Each day Humble Supplies Enough Energy to Melt 7 Million Tons of Glacier!” Following the shocking headline the ad read: “This giant glacier has remained unmelted for centuries. Yet, the petroleum energy Humble supplies — if converted into heat — could melt it at the rate of 80 tons each second!“(Mikkelson).
Mikkelson, David. “1962 Humble Oil ‘Melting Glaciers’ Advertisement.” Snopes.com, SNOPES, 21 May 2014,
www.snopes.com/photos/advertisements/humble.asp.
The company believed that this approach would make them stand out and give an accurate representation of how impressive they were. If an advertisement such as this were to run today, it would cause an uproar amongst consumers. Modern advertisers are able to review advertising and marketing campaigns from the past, while looking at modern approaches to learn what is appropriate to present to their consumers today.
Despite there being a few advertisements such as the one released by the Humble Oil Company, there began to be a shift in the way advertisers and companies presented their products in relation to the environment. The modern environmental movement that began in the 1960s was one that brought together environmentalism and advertising for the first time. Eventually, people became quite involved in environmentalism and advertisers took notice: “As the environmental movement evolved, so, too, did the persuasive messaging that supported it” (Atkinson). It was reported that the first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 (Easterling 20). The creation of Earth Day was one that reminded people to respect the environment and nature. During the 1970’s the Wall Street Journal conducted a survey. This survey showed “almost half of the nation’s major corporations were involved in environmental protection programs (Rosenbaum 1973).” (Easterling 22). With this many businesses involved in environmental protection programs, how these businesses advertised began to change ever so slightly. Up until this point it was understood that consumers’ behaviors had an impact on the environment; however, it wasn’t until 1988 that climate change was truly recognized as a threat. That year James Hasen, an employee of NASA at the time, made an announcement to the U.S. Senate that man-made global warming had begun (Hertsgaard 24). Between 1989 and 1990 there was a 430 percent increase in green print ads and a 367 percent increase in green television ads (Banerjee et al. 21). This increase was one of the largest increases ever involving green advertising. Later, in the 1990s, people began to analyze advertisements that contained environmental appeals. During this time, climate change wasn’t seen as a central element; however, “issues of environmental preservation and conservation dominated” the advertising world (Atkinson). In the early 2000s, advertisers began to analyze how audiences processed the messages that they were receiving. Throughout the past sixty years the advertising industry has undergone a “greening” effect and it continues to change with new findings and new challenges. All of these minor ways that the environment influenced the advertising industry throughout most of the twentieth century have led to an interesting convergence.
There is much to be said about the past and what people can learn from it, but Mother Teresa said it best: “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We only have today. Let us begin” (Goodreads). This quote could be considered quite relevant in relation to climate change. What has been done in the past cannot be undone; humanity must learn from its past in order to plan for a better today. Throughout history, oil and automotive companies have been some of the largest contributors to the advertising industry (Creamer and Capps). These companies have also played a large role in contributing to climate change and global warming by emitting toxins and smog into the atmosphere. With the advertising industry making most of its money off of companies such as these they have had to face many decisions. That decision being: help the environment by not supporting businesses that harm it, or continue to support these harmful businesses and not take a stand when it comes to climate change. Luckily, many automotive companies, as well as oil companies, have noticed the impact they have on the environment and started to reform the way that they present themselves and the products that they create.
One of the first automotive companies to successfully use a green advertising approach was Toyota. The Toyota Prius was the first ‘green’ mass-produced car. It recorded that the emissions of hybrid vehicles are lesser than those of other typical vehicles, especially diesel. The company’s advertising campaigns for the Prius have always been centered on going green, reducing waste, and saving the environment. A general theme of nature has been featured in every advertisement that they have released. The advertisers successfully sell this product by creating this image “of a future where nature is ‘better’ than it is now” (Garland et al. 688). This implies that if consumers drive hybrid cars, they will be creating a better tomorrow by limiting the amount of emissions their car gives off into the atmosphere.
The idea of creating an image of a positive future has proven to be effective in influencing consumers’ behaviors, but some researchers have found that using fear may be even more effective than the former. Modern researchers discuss how in the past researchers believed that “cognitions such as perceived threat and efficiency lead to message acceptance,” but “fear arousal as such may lead to message rejection” (Hartmann et al.744). However, in a more recent study conducted by Hartmann et al.,it was found that modern advertising that promotes protecting the environment “can benefit from the use of environmental threat appeals” (756). Appealing to consumer’s emotions has always been an approach made by advertisers. Most of the time advertisers want to evoke a warm, familiar feeling through their ads, but this time around they want people to be scared. Fear is being used to bring to light the seriousness of climate change; if consumers are not scared for their future and the effects climate change will have on it, then they do not realize the importance of what will happen if action is not taken.
Green advertising is remarkably innovative and can have positive effects on the planet, but it also has its flaws. It has been noted that roughly 75 percent of people are concerned with climate change, but these people are not engaged in responding to it in the proper way (Peattie et al. 275). With all the talk about climate change in the mainstream media, the idea of going green has become popular and almost trendy to an extent. It is now “cool” and “hip” to give off the image that you’re doing your part to save the planet. The actuality of this is that people are more interested in presenting the idea that they’re helping the environment than they are in actually doing so: “Lost in the rise of these eco-fads is an honest assessment of whether these actions are actually helping the planet, or just making us feel better about ourselves” (Myers). This being said, advertisers have used this as leverage and as a way to increase revenue. This is done through a semi-new process known as greenwashing. Nyilasy et al.describes greenwashing as “intentionally misleading or deceiving consumers with false claims about a firm’s environmental practices and impact (694). With the idea of being environmentally conscience being seen as a sort of trend, companies now know that people are attracted to shopping green and saving the environment, so they’ll resort to making false claims. This is to create an image so that consumers will perceive them as more environmentally friendly, which can be extremely misleading at times. A prime example of this would be a when a meat company’s chicken is labeled as “premium quality”, “non-GMO”, or “all natural” when in actuality their meat is supplied from a factory farm that injects its chickens with hormones. Many food companies have been caught making these types of false claims in their advertising and branding, such as Tyson. Studies have also found that some companies are willing to spend large sums of money to produce green advertisements in order to brand themselves as a ‘green company’.
When it comes to particular groups, the advertising industry is now struggling to convince their consumers that they are genuine in their attempts to prevent climate change (Peattie et al. 275). With greenwashing becoming such a large issue, consumers are unaware of which brands and companies they should believe in. This breaks a sense of trust between certain brands and their customers leading them to ultimately question whether or not a product is truly good for the environment or not. Large corporations and companies have begun to greenwash their brands as a way to increase sales and their popularity among specific crowds, which could potentially have a negative effect on the environment. Advertising can be used to help the environment; however, the industry must eliminate this idea of greenwashing and advertise honestly in order to make a real impact. They have two choices. Option #1: Choose to ignore the mistakes the industry is making and struggle with the consequences down the road. Option #2: Recognize and fix the flaws now; plan and hope for a better future.
The information advertisers have obtained from advertising campaigns in the past and campaigns currently being observed will be necessary in moving forward. Advertising will continue to be “one of the most commonly employed mechanisms to communicate a green message to consumers” (Nyilasy et al. 694). Sadly, even with the actions currently being taken against climate change, its negative influence on the future is inevitable. The industry as it is now will have to undergo major reconstruction to keep up with the environmental crises the planet will be facing. Mark Hertsgaard’s “Hot” delves into the idea of what the future will look like. Every community will feel the effects of climate change and the impacts will continue to grow stronger each year (107). As global temperatures continue to rise, the products people will need to purchase to go about everyday life will change. Advertising agencies will find that products they once promoted in the past will become obsolete or unnecessary. Changes will be gradual, but eventually consumers will be living in a whole new world. Shopping and buying for necessity will be more prevalent than ever. Rising temperatures will result in a low supply of food and water – resources which will be in high demand. With people depleting the planet of its natural resources and with the influx in the population increase, limited resources will pose a conflict (Juardo and Maldonado 108). Rationing may potentially become important. This could easily be the dark reality that the future holds.
Ultimately the decisions the advertising industry makes now could directly affect the future in terms of climate change. Say advertisers choose to continue to ignore the mistakes the industry has made. Advertisers, as well as society, will struggle with the consequences down the road. However, maybe the future doesn’t have to be this extreme… Or maybe this sinister future does not have to arrive so soon. Say advertisers choose to address the current problems and do all that they can right now: temperatures will still continue to rise in the years to come, but hopefully this could buy humanity more time. Advertisers, with the amount of influence they have on consumer behavior, have a social responsibility to do what they can right now to save our environment. The world will inevitably struggle due to those who have contributed to climate change and global warming in the past, but it is important to have hope and maintain positivity to make it through the years to come. By taking action eventually things will hit a stopping point and humanity can begin to fix what they once destroyed avoiding reaching a point of no return.
Confucius once said to “study the past if you would define the future” (Goodreads). This could not be more relevant in moving forward with the convergence of advertising and climate change. Advertisers have learned and will continue to learn how these two extremely different topics work hand in hand and influence one another. In the past and present advertising has subtly provided direction for consumers in purchasing, lifestyle choices, and decision-making. In order to have a positive effect on the world in times of climate change, advertising agencies will need to become more ethical and honest so that they may direct consumers in a direction that will have a positive impact on the planet. It is time to consider that the future of the world, humanity, and the advertising industry will all be influenced on the decisions advertisers make right now in the present and moving forward. People will continue to look for direction in dealing with this issue, and they may find it in the most unlikely of places: “Befuddled by the claims of scientists, politicians and statisticians, consumers need an even handed guide through the climate debate” (Snoddy). And advertisers may end up being the right fit for the job.
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