Comments on Fluffytek Art Blog: Washing Away Greenwash

I couldn't get through the post, I'll admit it.. b...

2008-07-20T15:40:00.000+01:00

I couldn't get through the post, I'll admit it.. but the pictures are beautiful, LOL.

Advanced IMC theory? Boy, now I'm really out of my...

2008-07-16T21:25:00.000+01:00

Advanced IMC theory? Boy, now I'm really out of my depth, although I certainly agree with your points. Thanks Dr L. :-)

(Incidentally Rich is still asleep. No boobies, you see.)

Andrew, sometimes corporations have a huge disconn...

2008-07-16T20:31:00.000+01:00

Andrew, sometimes corporations have a huge disconnect between their public relations messages and the reality of their practices. The Integrated Marketing Program at Northwestern University has advanced IMC theory, which says advertisers, PR specialists, and marketers must be admitted to the inner circles of corporations and given influence over company practices.

The issue is inconsistent messages. While the PR people are espousing one thing, the corporation often is actually doing something else.

My advertising textbook focuses on international marketing and PR, and it advances IMC theory. A corporation must be consistent in all its messages, and these messages must be consistent with actual policy. I guess this is another way of saying that business ethics must never be just a marketing tool. The public today is too savvy for that.

You want to have large global corporations with go...

2008-07-16T19:49:00.000+01:00

You want to have large global corporations with good business ethics, the kind that are looking out for the environment and us the little people that buy the goods ...hmmmm...well I guess it's good to have dreams that you hope will come true.

Maybe if you follow the yellow brick road. The kindly wizard will make it so.

D.L. Wood

Wow thanks Andrew. I really didn't think anyone wo...

2008-07-16T19:46:00.000+01:00

Wow thanks Andrew. I really didn't think anyone would read this, let alone a business ethics specialist :-)

Dave is awake.

2008-07-16T14:47:00.000+01:00

Dave is awake.

Lin, I certainly concur with your comments.Busines...

2008-07-16T14:25:00.000+01:00

Lin,

I certainly concur with your comments.

Business ethics must never be seen as simply a marketing tool, it is, at its core, a way of doing business, which should impact the entire demeanor of the organization across its entire operations.

'Greenwashing' is simply a waste of money.

Let me give you an example, British American Tobacco. According to information on its web site, the company's extensive public relations efforts include sponsorship of 144 youth prevention programs (for smoking), the plantation of 628 million trees and corporate donations totaling approximately 16.1 million pounds.

Yet in my view, whilst the above efforts are positive, the company still does not enjoy a good reputation. This is courtesy of being accused of tax evasion worth some $60 million over five years in South Korea, promotion of cigarettes to minors in Nigeria and being fined a few years back for involvement in a price-fixing scandal in Italy.

Perhaps the company's long term history of misleading the public about the effects of smoking and destroying evidence which was potentially relevant to litigation proceedings against them did not help either.

I seriously wonder why the company bothers in an extensive public relations effort when its other business practices ensure that its public reputation will justifiably remain poor for the foreseeable future.

Cheers

Andrew

This post has me wondering how Rich is going to en...

2008-07-16T11:52:00.000+01:00

This post has me wondering how Rich is going to ensure that his photography is green so that he is not outed by a local attorney/accountant/model? We know that Dave S. is green already, will Rich emulate him and start shooting all his models while naked (models are nude, photographers are naked)?