Spin of the Day: May 12, 2008

May 12, 2008

Green Marketing, Greenwashing and Bitter Eco Villains - What's A Corporation to Do?

Adweek has an interesting article examining environmental corporate social responsibility in light of the latest consumer survey data designed to help companies profit from green marketing. They caution corporations to "realize they're swimming against a turbid current of anti-corporate sentiment. ... This is the backdrop against which greenwashing has become a household word among eco-activists. And it threatens to become part of ordinary consumers' vocabulary as well. ... When you learn that a brand you use" is greenwashing, "it's like getting a holiday card that says a donation has been made in your name to a cause you dislike." On the other hand, a new TNS survey finds what some might call a 'bitter' market segment who do "not respond well to green messaging." These so-called Eco Villiains are "predominantly Midwestern, middle-income family-men in small to mid-sized metro areas. Eco Villains do not believe in global warming, disdain eco-conscious products and suspect that environmental media coverage is propaganda."


DCI Group's Work for Burma's Dictators Embarrasses John McCain

Doug Goodyear, the CEO of the Washington D.C. PR and lobbyshop, DCI Group, was selected to manage the forthcoming Republican National Convention (RNC), in St. Paul, Minnesota, because of his "management experience and expertise," a spokeswoman for John McCain said. Michael Isikoff reported in Newsweek that in 2002 DCI was paid $348,000 to represent Burma's military junta. "It also led a PR campaign to burnish the junta's image, drafting releases praising Burma's efforts to curb the drug trade and denouncing 'falsehoods' by the Bush administration that the regime engaged in rape and other abuses," Isikoff reported. Goodyear defended the company's work: "It was our only foreign representation, it was for a short tenure, and it was six years ago," he said. Shortly after the story broke, the RNC issued a media release quoting Goodyear stating he had resigned "so as not to become a distraction in this campaign." DCI's other clients have included Exxon, Google and AT&T.