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FTC to Review Green Marketing Guidelines

The FTC has decided to review its decades-old environmental marketing guidelines after noticing a proliferation in the marketplace of companies claiming to be “green.”

The guidelines, originally set to be reviewed in 2009, will likely be revised this year, writes Brandweek. The FTC held a forum reviewing green practices on Jan. 8; the next forum, held April 30, will address green product packaging.

In the meantime, marketers should be crystal clear about the environmental benefits they are touting. Marketing claims, whether “expressed or implied, should be backed up with reliable evidence,” says Hampton Newsome, an FTC attorney who moderated the green practices forum.

According to a 2007 Cone Consumer Environmental Survey, 91 percent of adults surveyed said they have a positive view of green companies, and 85 percent said they are willing to take their business elsewhere when companies don’t act responsibly.

But an over-abundance of environmental initiatives could lead to a backlash, says Jon Entine, a corporate responsibility consultant and adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.