Lesson 4.5
Lesson 2
Lesson 2—Prosperity
Is prosperity sustainable in the twenty-first century?
Get Focused
Profit or sustainability? Are corporations serious about efforts to create sustainability? Opponents of economic globalization and the expansion of global giants are skeptical of the claims of many corporations. In marketing media and on their corporate websites, many corporations now state that sustainability and care for people and the environment are part of their business plan. The skeptics accuse them of greenwashing.
greenwashing: refers to the strategy used by some businesses to persuade consumers that they align their business actions to efforts to sustain the environment
This is often a marketing strategy.
Activity
Go to the Internet and research the marketing strategies of these companies. Stop Greenwashing has a collection of ads that citizens have uploaded as evidence that profit drives a new green attitude in some of the multinational corporations.
- PepsiCo, Starbucks, and Matt Damon – H20 Africa clean water initiative and Ethos bottled water
- Coca-Cola and REPET wear and the Mount Franklin water campaign to reforest Australia
- GE and Ecomagination
- Hummer by General Motors
- President’s Choice and Canada’s Greenest Shopping Bag