What Makes a Picture Green?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 02.11.08
The People at Getty Images spent a year reviewing 2500 ads to determine what Makes a Picture (MAP) effective. They "interviewed trend experts like Marian Salzman and Simran Sethi" and surveyed consumers. Some of the highlights, selected by Environmental Leader:
Any Color but Green
“Expect the future to be any color but green because right now everybody uses green (and darker shades are predominant). The environment comes in all colors, and visual clichés do not compel interest. Expect to see a backlash on all familiar environmental iconography. Innovators will embrace the mucky, the messy, the colorful.” Um, Planet Green team, call rewrite!
Green Neurosis
“Beware green neurosis – being environmentally astute is complex and contradictory. What seems right today turns out to be so wrong tomorrow. Consumers know this more than the brands communicating to them – they want to feel right rather than respond to weighty stats. So don’t stand on a principle; indeed, look to embrace the ambiguity if possible.” So consumers want warm and fuzzy but don't want facts? More greenwashing ahead!
A Womb of My Own
“As the world lets us down, we want to be happy homemakers more than ever. It’s the trend that could be labeled “a womb of my own,” because it’s all about giving us some kind of primordial comfort. Advertisers offer security back to us in the warm, intimate shades of homemaking and home issues, where the big scary environment can be shut out.” Except that you can't shut the big scary environment out, it's in your food and electricity bills and in your air and water right there in your house. ::Environmental Leader
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- The Guardian Takes on Greenwashing
- Top 7 Green Categories of 7 Green Lists of 7 Green Things
- Readers Care If Their Magazines Are Green
- Rechargable Foot Warmers - Green Idea, or Green Lame?
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