Advertisers Set to Launch Self-Regulatory Green Marketing Code
12 November 2012
Following a period of public consultation, the board of the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has agreed to proceed with the development and implementation of an Environmental Claims Advertising and Marketing Code.
With consumers becoming increasingly aware of, and interested in, the environmental impact of products and services, the new Code will help ensure that advertisers and marketers develop and maintain rigorous standards when making environmental claims in advertising and marketing communications, said Scott McClellan, chief executive of the AANA.
Elements the new Code will address include: the need for advertisers to substantiate any environmental claims they make about products or services; that any claims must represent a significant benefit or improvement in the overall environmental impact of the product or service concerned; and that any environmental claims do not lead the consumer to conclude a company has voluntarily adopted an environmental practice when in fact it has been legally mandated.
“Despite a recent shift in media focus away from environmental issues, AANA members remain committed to the fight against ‘greenwashing’,” said McClellan.