Crazy Vet offers us this rather amazing commercial for BP as an example of “green-washing” or an effort to make a company appear environmentally friendly:
What I think is especially remarkable about this example is how entirely free of any content it manages to be. The commercial combines pretty colors, animation, babies, cute music, and whistling gas pumps. That alone, apparently, is effective in convincing us that BP is environmentally benign. It is pure emotion, completely devoid of an argument.
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Lisa Wade is a professor of sociology at Occidental College. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Comments 6
Nicole — March 14, 2009
I've written about this very issue, how cuteness is used to promote/give the appearance of environmental friendliness: http://www.underconsideration.com/speakup/archives/005094.html
Steve Gorelick — March 14, 2009
How about Emeril LaGasse, Green-Washer?
http://mediaandmayhem.com/2009/01/30/and-the-shameless-hucksters-shall-lead-them-emeril-and-his-%e2%80%9cgreen%e2%80%9d-knives/
Sabriel — March 15, 2009
I remember a couple of years ago when BP revamped their logo to be that green and yellow flower thing they are using today. It was really kind of pathetic because they had just been all over the news a few months previously for an oil spill (really, a corroded pipeline) and also a fatal accident at a refinery.
There's a good article about it at the new york times.
Green Logo, but BP Is Old Oil
By JOE NOCERA
Published: August 12, 2006
It might be a good exercise to contrast BPs brand image before and after it got the makeover.
Village Idiot — March 15, 2009
Nice and soothing and vacuous; it's audio-visual valium!
I wonder if a child watching this might be inspired to take the family car out for a spin, like the children in the commercial appear to be doing. I can't really imagine who the intended audience for this ad is; it looks like it's marketing BP to kindergarteners.
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