Green Advertising Law

Green Advertising Law

Welcome to Our Website!

Green advertising is clearly one of the hottest topics today. Individuals are rightly concerned about the fate of our planet. Environmental organizations like The Nature Conservancy are taking steps to address such issues as destruction of habitat, the insidious - and vastly under-reported and underestimated - problem of invasive species, and other major environmental problems. Most recently, a gigantic gusher of oil - the largest accidental oil spill in all of history - dumped 206 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. This is equivalent to 19 Exxon Valdez's worth of oil. The government seemed incapable of handling this immense problem, failing, for example, to timely accept foreign assistance to help clean up this spill. Additionally, government first banned toxic dispersants - except in rare cases - but then essentially rubber-stamped every request for such dispersant use.

Where government has failed, many businesses are increasingly getting into the act and offering "green" alternatives, like the Toyota Prius, green home environmental products, organic and natural personal care products, environmentally preferable building products, green advertising agencies, and other green products and services.

Today, green advertising claims abound in both the traditional media (i.e., broadcast and print) and the new media (web sites, streaming audio and video, e-mail, DVDs and CD-ROMs). Moreover, you can expect to see increasing numbers of green advertising claims in the future in such new media venues as virtual reality environments, the integration of digital data with the telephone - such as Internet telephony - and mobile computing.

The question arises as to the legal structure that will cope with this coming explosion of green advertising. Advertisers need to know what is required for such ads before they prepare them. That is what this web site is dedicated to do - provide guidance and insight to advertisers as they prepare their green ads. A good starting point is the article, "10 Ways to Avoid Making Suspect Green Advertising Claims".

You should be aware that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the key federal agency in the advertising law area. Under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, FTC regulates unfair or deceptive advertising nationally. FTC has been interested in this area for quite some time as evidenced by its issuance of guidelines on green advertising back in May 2000. Called Complying with the Environmental Marketing Guides, the publication containing these guides provides the FTC Staff's view of the law's requirements. It does not have the force of law and is not binding on the Commission. Nevertheless, it is important that you become conversant with these green guides.

Our Green Commercials page takes a look at some recent examples of interesting and effective "green" advertising campaigns. These examples demonstrate how advertisers and their advertising agencies are using the green theme to market their products and services.

Keep visiting this web site in the future as we add content and report on recent key developments in the green advertising law area. We welcome your input, so why not

Earth in the Balance

This is a critical time in the fate of the environment. The devastation in the Gulf of Mexico illustrates what happens when citizens abdicate their responsiblity to be caretakers of this planet. You don't have to believe in global warming to believe that 206 million gallons of oil - some 19 Exxon Valdez's worth - and millions of gallons of toxic dispersants are not very good for sea life.

The devastating and ongoing impacts of the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history is being minimized and glossed over by most of the media. There are, notwithstanding, a multitude of articles and information about this, and other environmental concerns on this website and on the Net. Our focus on this site is on how advertisers are responding to the growing body of green advertising law.