Shell Hosts Greenwash Event Called "Eco Marathon"


If a meat-eater were to hold a vegetarian’s conference, would it make them a vegetarian? If an oil company holds an event promoting alternative energy methods, does it make them an eco-friendly company?

The action might improve their image to those who don’t know much about them, but they don’t fool everyone. An oil company is an oil company. Their income comes from an unsustainable and environmentally damaging source.

So why would they be promoting an event that awards people for using less fuel? 

Because they are attempting to paint themselves “green.” Because the company spends a lot of money and time trying to brand itself as caring about the environment and alternative energy. They are bold and experienced greenwashers

For the last 25 years, Shell has been holding an event called the Shell Eco-Marathon. The oil company created the event to challenge high school and college students to design and build energy efficient vehicles. According to the Eco-Marathon web site, Shell is the organizer of this event because the company is “committed to help promoting efficient energy use, addressing environmental concerns linked to the use of fossil fuels, understanding current patterns of consumption and exploring alternative energies.”

But it’s hard to take this “commitment” seriously.

Not only have they been responsible for both drilling and causing oil spills across the world for years, but also they don’t have any kind of history of being committed to the renewable sector. In April 2009,  Shell backed out of it’s initiative to invest in renewable energy possibilities, stating that they are not “economic.” In 2008, the company also backed out of a wind farm project in the Thames Estuary of London.

While the actual Eco-Marathon itself is certainly an act of greenwash, as is the publicity surrounding it.

Last month in the Washington Post, the company ran this half page advertisement promoting the Eco-Marathon. The picture shows an odd, futuristic-looking vehicle that is blurred, probably to make it look fast and powerful. I assume it is one of the entries to this year’s Eco-Marathon. The Web site shows similar looking vehicles.

The competition has two categories: the Prototype and Urban Concept. The Prototype category calls for contestants to develop the most fuel efficient, aerodynamic vehicle possible, while the Urban Concept asks that the most fuel-efficient solutions be developed, while also meeting the criteria for traditional cars on the road today.

There’s no doubting that the Web site makes this event look like a creative way to promote fuel efficiency. But it’s important to remember where the main focus of this company lies; where the money comes from to present the winners of this event with grand prizes (which include trophies and prize money). I assure you it’s at a higher cost than the zeros past the dollar sign.

Shell has spilled tons of oil in Nigeria, not only polluting the environment of the region, but displacing and threatening the indigenous Ogoni people of the country. They are also one of the forerunners of oil drilling in the Arctic

It’s important that Shell is recognized for the things that truly characterize them; not for the things that they spend money publicizing themselves as. 

Comments (1)

  • Permalink cindybaliog on August 05, 2010
    We might wanna know the Greenwash History so that we have the hint why Shell presented an environmentally responsible public image by hosting " Eco Marathon"

    Greenwash History

    The 1960s and 1970s

    *

    As the contemporary environmental movement built momentum in the mid-to-late 1960s, newly greened corporate images flooded the airwaves, newspapers and magazines. This initial wave of greenwash was labeled by former Madison Avenue advertising executive Jerry Mander as "ecopornography."
    *

    In the year 1969 alone, public utilities spent more than $300 million on advertising-more than eight times what they spent on the anti-pollution research they were touting in their ads.

    The 1980s and 1990s

    *

    Greenwash advertisements became even more numerous and more sophisticated in the 1970s and 1980s, reaching new heights in 1990 on the 20th anniversary of Earth Day.
    *

    One-fourth of all new household products that came on to the market in the US around the time of "Earth Day 20" advertised themselves as "recyclable," "biodegradable," "ozone friendly," or "compostable."
    *

    In the early 1990s, one poll found that seventy-seven percent of Americans said that a corporation's environmental reputation affected what they bought.
    *

    In 1985 Chevron launched its "People Do" advertisements aimed at a "hostile audience" of "societally conscious" people.
    *

    Still going strong more than fifteen years later, the "People Do" series is a textbook case of successful greenwashing. Polls Chevron conducted in California two years after the campaign showed that it had become the oil corporation people trusted most to protect the environment.
    *

    Chevron's greenwash also paid off at the gas pump. Among those who saw the commercials, Chevron sales increased by 10 percent, while among a target audience of the potentially antagonistic socially concerned types, sales jumped by 22 percent.
    *

    Greenwash goes global at the 1992 UN Conference in Rio when Secretary General Maurice Strong created an Eco-Fund to finance the event. The Eco-Fund franchised rights to the Earth Summit logo to the likes of ARCO, ICI, and Mitsubishi group member Asahi Glass.

    21st Century Greenwash

    *

    BP, the world's second largest oil company and one of the world's largest corporations, advertised its new identity as a leader in moving the world "Beyond Petroleum." It touted its $45 million purchase of the largest Solarex solar energy corporation. But BP will spend $5 billion over five years for oil exploration in Alaska alone.
    *

    Shell, the world's third largest oil company, continues its clever but misleading ad series "Profits or Principles" which touts Shell's commitment to renewable energy sources and features photos of lush green forests. But Shell spends a miniscule 0.6% of its annual investments on renewables. In true greenwash fashion, Shell's actions do not match its words.
    *

    For Earth Day 2000, Ford Motor Company announced that all corporate brand advertising will have an environmental theme. It expects to spend as much on this greenwashing as it does to roll out a new line of cars, such as the global warming gas guzzler Ford Excursion.
    *

    Monsanto, Dow, Dupont, Novartis, Zeneca, BASF and Aventis launched the "Council for Biotechnology Information," in April 2000. The Council will spend up to $250 million over 3-5 years to win public approval for genetically engineered foods under the slogan "Good Ideas Are Growing."

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