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Getty Images Study Finds Polar Bears, Melting Ice Make for Bad Ads

Firms seeking to advertise their green credentials should shun generic images associated with climate change such as polar bears and melting ice floes, according to a major new survey by Getty Images. Read More

Firms seeking to advertise their green credentials should shun generic images associated with climate change such as polar bears and melting ice floes, according to a major new survey of green advertisements and consumer attitudes.

The study from picture agency Getty Images assessed 2,500 advertising campaigns from last year for its annual “What Makes a Picture (MAP) report and concluded that many of the conventional images used to promote green campaigns were in danger of becoming visual clichés.

“When it comes to the visual language of the environment, we are in danger of killing it as a meaningful symbol with visual cliché,” said Lewis Blackwell, creative advisor at Getty Images. “The first lesson we must learn in order to grab any attention is to make Death to Environmentalism our mantra and kill off the clichés of ecology.”

Rebecca Swift, global creative planning director at Getty Images, warned that pictures of ice caps and polar bears in particular “will not resonate with consumers in the future.” [Editor’s note: Earlier this month, GreenBiz’s Joel Makower interviewed Denise Waggoner at Getty Images about using green ideas in cause-marketing and traditional marketing.]

The report recommends that advertisers instead embrace more localized images that are relate more closely to consumers’ experience of the environment. “Whatever the product, the closer to home you can pitch the communication the better the opportunity to win over the hearts and minds of consumers to green products and behaviors,” it claims. “This is probably not good news for communicators who have been enjoying economies of scale in recent years by running global campaigns.”

It also advises advertisers to challenge consumers’ negative attitudes towards the environment head-on, arguing that campaigns should not shy away from addressing issues such as consumer indifference, concerns over greenwashing and resentment about the commercialization of a social cause.

The report comes days after a major survey from the Co-op of over 100,000 of its members that similarly found that consumers are prioritizing tangible and local environmental concerns over climate change.

When asked to name one area of priority, 27 percent identified ethical trading, 25 percent animal welfare, and 22 percent the environment, while just 4 percent named climate change.

The Co-op responded to the findings with a raft of new announcements including a commitment to ban the sale of eggs from caged hens, further reduce packaging and increase its list of prohibited pesticides.

The company also insisted that despite the apparent limited interest in climate change it would continue to pursue its carbon emission reduction strategies. “Whilst only a small percentage of members listed climate change as their highest ethical priority, the vast majority still endorses the leadership position we have taken in this area,” said chief executive Peter Marks.

Polar bear on ice – CC license by Alastair Rae/Flickr

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