Earth Day

In one way, I really hate April. Yesterday, April 22, was Earth Day. The day that people get together and "focus" on the Earth. The real issue that I see is that so many companies get together and pretend to really care about the environment.

As you may know, I maintain a news source for the copier and printer industry. I have been amazed at how many "green" news releases have come out this month when the rest of the year, very little is heard. Everyone seems to think that.

Going green is a way to market products to a different audience. The vocal minority that care enough about this dictate the marketing needs. If it was really important to them, they would do it with no marketing dollars. They would make it a quiet cause... or a cause that wouldn't net them any gain.

ADD Sidenote: I wonder if they make a greater profit on their own coffee or if they do this because they are so concerned about the environment... continue reading...

Green is nothing more than a marketing ploy. I have a hard time believing that if going green for a company didn't get them a net gain of something (goodwill, marketing messages, net increase in profit, etc) they wouldn't do it.

The best example I have seen in sometime is that of Walmart. My wife went to Walmart today and the greeter handed her a 16 page pamphlet (see at the left).

While the assertion they make is good, namely, "Earth-friendly products won't save the Earth if they don't save people money" is something that I agree with, what I don't like is that they hide advertisement under the guise of helping the planet. continue reading...