Guess what? Your new Ford Explorer SUV is actually good for the environment, according to Ford’s massive new ad campaign, which won CORPORATE WATCH’s latest “greenwashing” award. In classic corporate fashion, Ford is blitzing the media with its new “environmental” image, spending as much money on its friend-of-the-earth image as it would on promoting a new line of cars.
In fact, every last magazine ad and billboard will henceforth have an environmental theme, Ford has announced. OK, so Ford isn’t perfect, but at least they’re trying right? Well, actually, Ford is number one in the nation when it comes to carbon emissions from cars and SUVs, according the Union of Concerned Scientists. Over the past decade, as the threat of global warming became more and more apparent, Ford raised its average vehicle emissions the most of any Big Three auto maker.
Still, you’ve got to love the flawless accounting logic: brand-friendly platitudes are just so much more cost-effective than, say, actually doing anything to help the environment.
To honor Ford for winning the greenwashing award, Corporate Watch will give Ford Chairman William Clay Ford, Jr. a used bicycle for commuting to work.
