Fence the false green marketing in the media

From January 1 no advertising fence of the Dutch city of The Hague can announce cruises, airplanes and other services or products based on fossil fuels. A ban that reminds of the one already suffered by the tobacco industry and that, little by little, begins to extend in Europe. Cities such as Edinburgh in Scotland, where combustion vehicle ads or Sheffield fuels or Sheffield in England were prohibited, have also taken this type of resolutions. For those who celebrate the entry into force of the prohibition, This type of advertising “normalizes and promotes unsustainable behaviors, undermining the current climate policy”. The Hague’s decision, in addition, is in line with what Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General, that advertising companies stop acting as facilitators of planetary destruction for the fossil industry claims. “

Hague prohibition is perhaps one of the more extreme measures against Greenwashing, But not the only one. The European Commission approved in 2024 a specific directive for Watch eco -positive carefully And past spring caught attention to 20 airlines for deceptive practices. On the other hand, more and more consumers are suspicious of terms such as Ecofriendly, Bio, Organic, etc., according to numerous studies. One of the last, the “Global Report of New Consumers 2024” (made by the Communicator Marco on a sample of 7,300 people from eleven countries), states that More than 80% of Spanish consumers believe that the sustainability that many companies are only marketing.

So much talking about sustainability has emptied this word of meaning? Is it a concept that we no longer trust? Many sectors such as fashion, food, automotive or financial sector have a reputation for unreliable. Is it logical that consumers suspend? Belén López VázquezDirector of Corporate Social Responsibility at ESIC University, points to one of the causes: “These and other sectors sometimes do not provide verifiable data on their responsible management.”

According to Kpmg’s study, “the Greenwashing challenge,” deceptive practices continue to grow. Between 2022 and 2023, 21.1% worldwide. However, the report clarifies that «the last update of the database by 2024 suggests a possible change, since the number of cases of green image washing denounced has decreased. This trend change can reflect improvements in corporate practices and greater regulatory supervision during the past year, ”he says. They also point to “an increase in Greenhushing, where companies minimize or omit environmental claims to avoid public and regulatory scrutiny.”

This new “green silence” is also verifying, according to experts, for recent political events such as Trump’s victory and the rise of ultraconservative parties. Signatures are afraid to tell how they move towards sustainability and decarbonization to avoid being criticized or for fear of not fulfilling the high expectations of consumers. «It is a very bad practice, because it threatens the real efforts to impact to a lesser extent. And besides, it does not generate that drag effect so good; When a company makes an improvement, the others also want to implement those same actions, ”says Alba Guzmán, co -founder of Rosa Parks, creative consultant specialized in impact marketing. The expert clarifies that «in many cases things are not being done well due to simple ignorance. There are few cases in which you act badly with intention ».

In advertising it has been heard for a long time that “we were broken by the purpose of using it so much.” The truth is that Greenwashing has managed to cause brutal confusion and a lot of distrust in the consumer. This, together with the fear of companies to make public their real actions for sustainability (to avoid, for example, possible demands for non -compliance), is taking the advertising sector to try to resolve the sustainability mess with new tools.

Demand for more rigor

An example is the English movement Clean Creatives, which advocates that agencies do not work with companies that promote fossil fuels. In Spain, publicists have also joined in a letter to ask the Supervisor of the ads, self -control, more rigor with Greenwashing and the posture echo. «Advertising agencies are very influential. 90% of companies work with us, because on many occasions their marketing teams have no specific training on sustainability, ”says Rosa Parks spokeswoman. From self -control they explain that as a form of self -regulating they make available two tools to help companies with their advertising: “Prior advice (Copy Advice) and through the resolution of advertising claims with our jury.”

But not everything is pernicious ads. There are examples of good practices. Alba Guzmán, from Rosa Parks, comments that «there are companies, calls B corp, which are doing well. To start because they have a purpose, a reason beyond earning money. They have wondered what they are; What problem will they solve. When a firm is governed by a purpose, it has a road map in very marked sustainability. Nor should we forget that when talking about sustainability, this is triple: environmental, but also social and economic, ”he says.

A data for hope is provided by the Institute of Innovation (ICMD) of ESIC University, which states that transparent, ethical and sustainable communication is one of the trends in advertising 2025 – together with the use of holograms or ads in metovers. López Vázquez, clarifies that there are two types of circumstance: that of small businesses or that they already have a very marked environmental purpose and that of large corporations, some of which were born on an oil -based economic model. In addition, he points out: «The big problem is that the economy is still based on a unrepable way of life and advances are slower than desirable. Although we have more and more scientific evidence on the consequences of our way of life, sustainability appears discreetly. From my point of view, the social change that circumstances require. And this means that we must be more aware of the impact that our actions generate. This applies to companies and also for consumers, ”he says.