To g ive t h es e adve r t is in g dr on e s cr e dit , t he way they hi d e the truth o f thei r i nacti o n i s qui te c l ever. O ne o f the earl ies t ex a mpl e s of t his wa s s e e n in t he m id-1 980 s when an o i l c o mpany c al l ed C hevro n rel eased an adverti si ng campa ig n c al l e d “Pe op le Do”. The a ds fe at ur e C hevro n empl oyees protec ti ng butterfl i es, turtl es and other ad o rable animal s . But t e r wouldn’ t m e lt . The y cr e at e a wond erful i mage o f uni ty between thei r c o mpany and the envi ro nm ent . F u rt h e rmore , t he us e of t he wor d “Pe op le ” in thei r c ampai gn ti tl e enc o urages us to i nc lud e o urselves i n their er to swal l ow thei r l i es i mag e of nat u ral un ity. I t’s e a s iif it make s t h e c u st om e r fe e l le s s gui lty to o , natural ly. T h e l ing u is t ic t e chn ique s e mpl oyed by these c o rpo r at ions h ave g ot te n eve n m or e so phi sti cated and efficie nt sinc e t h e n, but t he y s t ill rely o n a few si mple p r i nc ipl e s. We l ike wor ds t hat make i mpo ssi bl e pro blem s se em solva ble . Wor ds t hat make us feel l i ke we’re m ak ing a dif f e re nc e . An d m os t i mpo rtantly, wo rd s that m ake u s f e el l ike good p e op le . We c an bash Jeff Bezo s as muc h as we want for t a kin g t he easy ro ute, but we are equ a l ly c u l pabl e whe n we a c c e p t the neatly packaged l i es that l a rg e c orporat ion s fe e d us . Yo u may thi nk that you ar e exe mpt f rom t his , t hat you wo ul d n’t fal l fo r such o bv iou s c orporat e lie s . I did t oo. I f you a re c onfide nt in your cit iz e n s t at u s , t he n t he r e ’s n o m erc ia l ) pl a c e t o p r a ct ic e t his i ndu s t ry. T h e y a r e e x p e r t s on m inimise h ow much ha r m t he y m ent a nd deve l opin g c ount r ie s . Primark s of t h e wor ld a dve rcli mat e f oc u se d. It’s m or e s ubampl e, words l ike “e c o-fr ie n dth row n a rou nd t h e in dus t r y ‘ he y r ec yc l ed c ot t on ran ge . it would an d t h e pl a net’ . This is a r e a l g ot f rom M onk i a few we e k s a go.
ec o -fri end ly perfect better (o r mo re c o mthan i n the fast-fashi o n c o nstantly wo rki ng to c ause to the envi ro nIt’s not just the bl atant ti si ng themselves as tl e than that. Fo r exly” and “ethi cal” are < 3 c heck o ut o ur 25% l o o k S U PER c ute o n u, emai l a fri end o f mi ne
Unf ort u nat e ly, fa ls e a dve rti si ng l aws are not enou g h t o f ig ht t h i s s m oke s cr e e n of marketi ng. These tr e ndy words h ave n o le ga l de fini ti o n, l argely as a r es u lt of t h e l ac k of e mp ir ica l d ata and state-fund ed r es e arc h int o f as t-fa s hion’s impac t. It’s easy to make a c l a im t h at t h es e wor ds apply to yo ur newly reb r a nde d c ompany a n d m a ke a show o f d o nati ng 2p p er t - sh irt sol d t o clim at e -fo c used c hari ti es when th ere are no l eg al c on s e que n c e s no r quotas. It i s c o mp let ely f a l s e and c omp le t e ly le ga l: we lc om e t o 20 22. Despi te mo re and mo re c o mpani es ad d i ng thi s fl ashy l a b el t o t h eir c at a l ogue a n d t o our m obile p hon e s, the fashi o n i ndustry sti l l pro duc es an esti mated 10 % o f all g lo bal g re enh ou se ga s e m is s ion s . That is m or e t han al l i nternati o nal fl i ghts and mari ti me shi ppi ng c o mbi ned. B ut a g ain, t h e “e t hica l” br a n de d clot hin g is a n expertly crafted l i e i n i tsel f. We l ive i n a hec ti c wo rl d wi th an inc es sa nt ly s t r e s s ful n ews cycle . Whe n t he average c l i mate-o ri ented i nd ivi dual wal ks i nto a sto re, i t is n ot u nre as ona bl e for t he m t o be lieve a n ic e s ound i ng tag i nstead fro m a ‘trustwo rthy’ brand and d eem it the ir g ood dee d f or t he day. I t’s n or m a l. I t’s what c o nsumeri sm sho ul d be l i ke. The i nfo rmati o n o n the real ethic a l c rimes of t he fa s t fa s hion in dus t r y a r e not ac c essi bl e no r adverti sed to the every d ay i nd ivi dua l. E ven if you a r e s t ill im mun e t o t he s e p e r fec tly wo rd ed l i es wrapped i n a l i ttl e 75% o ff sal e bow, mo st p eopl e a re not . Whe n we a s c on s um e r s le t thi s ki nd o f greenwashi ng sl i d e, c o rpo rati o ns c an c o nti nue t o g e t away wit h in a ct ion . Le s s a n d le s s energy i s pumped i nto the c l i mate-awareness c ampai gn that we ’ ve worke d so ha r d t o m a int a in a s t iny ind ivi dual s. The pressure o n po l i ti c i ans rel axes and o ur hyp ot h e t ic al CE O ca n s le e p we ll at n ight with hi s mi l l i o n d o l l ar bo nus fo r “so lvi ng” c l i mate change. We mu s t c ont inu e t o fight a ga in s t e m is s ion- caus ed d amage by the fast-fashi o n i ndustry and other l arge c o rpo rati ons . We c a nnot c ont inue t o le t t he m us e wor ds t o hi d e the truth and i nstead fo rc e them to show us the numbers to b a c k u p t h e ir l of ty cla im s . I t m ight be difficult work to argue i n ho sti l e envi ro nments and to appease mo ney-hung r y s h areh ol de rs . But t hat doe s n ot m e a n we ca n affo rd to qui t and take the easy way o ut. The fi ght wi l l never sto p.
G-YOU MAGAZINE// FEBRUARY 2022// 15
mag ine you rse l f a s a C E O for a la r ge c or p orati o n. Yo u rec eive c ri ti ci sm fro m every sec to r abo ut the cab on f ootprint you caus e , eve n your own kids a re starti ng to ask questi o ns. Eventual ly, yo u need to d o so mething t o sil e nc e t he hat e r s . B ut in a ll hon e s ty, as muc h as us universi ty stud ents are anti-capi tal i st wi th eve ry f ibre of our be in g, it ha s t o be a ck n owl ed ged that d ec reasi ng a c o mpany’s carbo n fo otpri nt to fo llow t h e direc t ion a ct ivis t s a r e ur gin g us t o t a ke i s d i ffi c ult wo rk. Mo re o ften than not, i t bo i l s d own to a m ore ec o-f riendly p r oduct ion p r oc e s s c os t in g t oo muc h mo ney and to o much effo rt. It i s o ften pushed to the b a c k of t h e sh e l f , on ly t o be br ought up a ga in 6 mo nths l ater by a d i fferent o pti mi sti c newbi e. It’s a ni ghtm are. So wh at do t he c or p or at ion s do t o r e lieve the pressure? Fake i t (greenwash i t) ti l l yo u make i t baby. If t h e only it e m on t he a ge n da is s ile n cin g p e op le ’s c ri ti ci sms, thi s i s the ti cket. Igno re mo ral i ty and just hi re so me wo rd- sav v y adve rt is in g p e op le t o m a n ip ulat e t he l oyal c usto mers i nto thi nki ng yo ur c o mpany i ntend s to “go green” . Ins t ea d of t h e mora lly obvious , sys t e m at ic s t e p of putti ng fund s and effo rt toward s meani ngful ly alteri ng an i ndus t ry ’s env ironme nt a l imp a ct , it’s fa r e a s ie r t o hid e the pro bl em behi nd fanc y wo rd s and c ute perso nal i sed emai l s!
W e m u st c o nti nu e to f i gh t agai nst em i s s i on-caus ed dam age by th e fa st-fa sh ion in dustry.
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