Bluewashing, pinkwashing and other forms of consumer deception
Bluewashing refers to the practice of companies presenting themselves as socially responsible, often through association with recognized international organizations and standards, but without taking substantive action to address social and ethical challenges. In contrast to greenwashing, which focuses on environmental claims, bluewashing focuses more on social and ethical issues.
Pinkwashing, on the other hand, is a practice where companies or brands show solidarity with LGBTQ+ communities or other marginalized groups to create a progressive image, but without showing substantial support or inclusive practices in their business operations. This can also be done to capitalize on the associated positive attention without actually advocating for the rights or well-being of these communities. A typical example is redesigned corporate logos in rainbow colors during the annual Pride Month - but only in regions that are open or at least neutral towards the LGBTQ+ community, but not, for example, in Arab countries or Russia.
Other forms include purplewashing, which involves communicating supposed gender equality, or healthwashing, i.e. the communication of deliberately misleading health promises.
Greenwashing as a risk factor
Just like greenwashing, all of the methods mentioned above can also be used - consciously or unconsciously - by representatives of the organic and natural cosmetics industry. It therefore makes sense to address the issue in order to raise awareness within the industry. How easy is it for the communications department to paint the logo in rainbow colors for a few days or weeks, but your company has neither support for an LGBTQ+ network nor tampon dispensers in the men's toilets? And how great is the temptation to advertise a product as "climate neutral" thanks to CO2 compensation for better sales figures, instead of investing in measures that would really lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions in your own or upstream production?
Avoidable mistakes or deliberate deceptive maneuvers can cost the company concerned a lot of money. "If the green veneer crumbles, sustainable products turn out to be not so sustainable after all, and companies obviously fail to meet their responsibilities, there is a risk of a massive loss of reputation among shareholders and consumers. Many entrepreneurs underestimate the associated negative impact on company value," says Gunter Lescher, Partner Forensic Services at PwC Germany. The Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions also has an impressive figure for this: 72% of consumers surveyed avoid companies or brands that are accused of making false or misleading sustainability promises.3
In the worst case, a lawsuit and a trip to court await - as in the case of the drugstore chain dm. In spring 2022, for example, it was targeted by Environmental Action Germany (German: Deutsche Umwelthilfe; abbreviation DUH) together with several other companies, which took legal action against misleading advertising promises claiming that products were "climate neutral" in the interests of consumer protection. Jürgen Resch, Federal Managing Director of DUH, justified the action as follows: "The advertising promise of climate neutrality is often consumer deception. It is often more of a CO2 emissions trade that companies use to wash themselves green. This takes money out of people's pockets but does nothing to protect the climate." This summer, the Karlsruhe Regional Court ruled in favor of DUH, stating that this would raise expectations that the products in question did not meet. For the lawyer representing DUH, Prof. Dr. Remo Klinger, this is no surprise: "One example shows how absurd the compensation model is: instead of laboriously and expensively actually reducing Germany's emissions, the Federal Minister of Finance would only have to pay 19 billion euros a year to make Germany climate-neutral on paper from now on according to this indulgence trade. That's less than half the annual profit of BMW, Daimler and VW in 2021. And in real terms, Germany would fuel the climate crisis unchecked."
Regardless of how you personally feel about DUH and the complaints, something needs to be done about greenwashing in particular. "Greenwashing destroys trust and is therefore a threat to the successful transformation of our society," Antje von Dewitz, Managing Director of outdoor company Vaude, warned on the LinkedIn business portal just recently. This is because every case of greenwashing not only reduces the credibility of genuine corporate sustainability efforts, but we as a society also lose valuable time that would be needed for real and effective sustainability changes.
