In the early 2000s, brands started to take the field with “sustainability” jerseys. Although they preferred the “green” color for the jerseys , the green of each brand has become quite different from the other over the years. While some of them remained faithful to the original, we witnessed that the green color was dirty, faded, and even turned into a black jersey and even received a “Greenwashing” advertisement on it. Advertisements, public service announcements, press breakfasts/excursions and, of course, advertorials showcased the polishing of social projects. Moreover, a profession was born under the name of “Sustainability communication”. We started to spin something with a consistency that we do not know whether it is chewing gum or Turkish delight in our mouths under the name of “sustainability”.
We Have Forgotten Human in “Sustainable Human Development”!
For some reason, “human” was forgotten in the concept that entered our lives with the title of “Sustainable Human Development” in Rio in 1992, and with the remaining “sustainability”, turning the ball with CO2 written on it in green jerseys in the midfield held on to the top of the agenda. Issues such as gender equality and inclusion, violence against women, children’s rights, poverty, hunger, injustice in income distribution, and the risk of epidemics could not even be “extras” on the stage where “carbon footprint” played a leading role!
Undoubtedly, brands cared about these issues. In fact, it is necessary to keep brands that give grounded examples of gender equality and inclusion in a separate corner. Moreover, let us pay tribute to the companies and brands that prepared and implemented their own Istanbul Conventions despite the Istanbul Convention, which Turkey officially withdrew its signature from.
If the Industrial Revolution Had Been Knitted From Patagonia Cloth
However, even the energy to be supplied from those dams will not forgive the companies that pit the villagers who stand guard for social justice and nature against the gendarmerie in their hydro-electric power plant construction projects. As in Akbelen, those who want to cover up the gendarmerie interventions, which are deemed worthy of the local people who protect the forest lands that are intended to be opened to coal production, with cultural and artistic activities, will have to walk around with their necks bowed in the society for many years.
On the one hand, there are these examples, and on the other hand, “Patagonia”, which transferred 99.5% of its shares to non-governmental organizations fighting the climate crisis
Brands and companies that struggle to find a way out fail to see that the change is in “values”. They are trying to pass the class with the discourses of the 1990s, such as “customer and employee satisfaction”, which remained in the hygiene aisles of the markets . Instead, those who see that the values that come with the winds such as customer experience, employee happiness, raw material supply in harmony with nature, the discovery of local culture and identities, the quota for women in management, the fight against racial discrimination, responsible management, and accountability can carry brands to the champions league do not hesitate to take radical decisions for transformation. They are investing to undermine these concepts. They don’t hesitate to use their values like a checklist when making their decisions. This job, which is a bit troublesome, naturally keeps them away from reputational risks. But more importantly, there is “authenticity” in their sustainability discourse, and they can confront their stakeholders with “sincerity” in practice.
There are also those who prefer to take a shortcut. Anyway, I’m talking about those who shift budgets to TikTok and Instagram while the digital environment is all around us and think that the game of grabbing corners in the “phenomenon” league is marketing. These startups, which are unknown when they will hit a wall, open their brands to competition in the follower market. Moreover, they are trying to gain a reputation with a self-proclaimed sustainability discourse in terms of content!
Market Share in Greenwashing
We have given names such as greenwashing, artwashing, sportswashing to the traditional “reputation buying with money” efforts of brands within the circle of fossil fuels . Buying a “showcase” with social and cultural projects is a wholesale solution for them. But they set a bad example for other brands that have “failures” in the matter of sustainability . They started to go down this path. Thus, the fossil industry has made a cultural vaccine to other industries. The “greenwashing market”, so to speak, has emerged. The main problem is that a number of non-governmental organizations and well-known opinion leaders are involved in this trend. Because they also benefit from this market.
Sustainability is the last exit before the bridge for humanity. The allure of consumer culture prevents us from seeing this sign. The climate crisis sits at the checkout of the store where we shop, no one is aware of it! The bill comes in the form of floods and landslides, mass migration of millions of people, disappearing forests and water resources, food crises, hunger, poverty and epidemics.
Let’s see if the marketing world will be able to carry the spiral it is in to the transformation that will win the “hearts” first with “genuine and sincere” practices. I recommend Arda Öztaşkın’s book “Not the climate but the crisis of humanity“ to the marketing world . [2] They will find the solutions they are looking for in his pages.
(*) Written for the December 2023 issue of Inc. Turkey.
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