Regulating Green Advertising in the Motor Car Industry
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11449217 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jane Holder (0000-0001-9582-2928, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1991 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 323 |
| Publication date | 1991-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Law and Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0263-323X • E-ISSN: 1467-6478 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1410198 |
| OpenAlex | W2070131876 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 3 |
The 'ultimate green machine' is a phrase used to describe a motor car from the 'new green generation'1 of vehicles. In such advertisements, the advertising industry stands between mass production and mass 'green' consumption.2 Similar advertising techniques have recently been employed in large numbers to sell products which appear to conform to the demands of 'green consumerism', that is, the use of individual consumer preference to promote less environmentally damaging products and services. This advertising practice has been popularly regarded as a response to consumer demands for information upon environmentally benign products fuelled by a sense of responsibility towards the environment. Such a liberal view of advertising is adhered to by the Advertising Standards Authority (hereafter, the ASA) which states that 'it is to the credit of the advertising industry that they responded to this green movement.'3 However the use of the language of the environmental protection movement and green imagery by the advertising industry has been criticized. Green advertisements have been perceived as a means to create and foster new consumer desires and to inject competition into the market in a way that does not rely upon price and even denies it as a factor. Green advertisements have been described as misleading, 'downright false', and also unfair as words such as 'natural', 'real' and 'green' have become thoroughly polluted with misuse. Within green consumerism, the regulation of advertising is emerging as a key issue alongside that of the need for a comprehensive labelling system.4 The concern about green advertising may be seen on two levels. The first is that of misleading or deceptive advertising involving the accuracy of facts. The second level is 'unfair' advertising or the more subtle means by which an advertisement works and the way in which value may be seen to be added to the product during exchange. In this paper on the regulation of green advertising I intend to evaluate the effectiveness of present forms of regulation on the two levels of concern and to
| Citations per year | 0.09 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1994 - 2025 (32) |
| Highly cited | No |