Happy...opps don't mention Christmas you might upset a religious minority.

Remember when companies sent Christmas cards? Now they just send 'Season Greetings'. But now even Christmas – or should that be seasonal - ads are under attack.

I have recently heard a few interesting tales of boardroom discussion that centred on “should we mention Christmas in our ads? Would this offend other religions?”

One marketing manager of a well known retailer was concerned that as a lot of Asians shopped at their stores they may be offended with the word ‘Christmas’ and boycott their shop. "Lets use ‘this winter’ in our ads," he nervously suggested.

This is based on what knowledge or insight? None. In fact there is no evidence at all that other religions or consumer groups that are offended by the use of the word Christmas. Just as we respect our religious festivals so do other religions respect Christian ones.

Thankfully, another director of the company told him to “stop being a spineless idiot.” Thank God (or whatever your greater being is) for Australians. As Charles Handy says, “common sense is not very common.”

In a PC world gone mad a small minority of Daily Mail reading liberals believe that by celebrating Christmas as a Christian festival we may upset other religions. We are not sure which ones, we are just told by Mrs church going middle aged, middle England that there’s a small possibility and therefore we must make Christmas ‘religious neutral’. Of course it offends millions of Christians in the process.

A Muslin leader recently slammed these PC meddlers for being racist. "Why do they blame us?" he commented. "They portray us as people who hate their religion, we do not . We find it highly offensive that you are portraying us in a way that incites hatred towards us." He's right.

Christmas is traditionally a Christian festival, fact but it's not an exclusive event. And just as more and more of us are joining in other religious festivals, so the lines between religions are becoming blurred.

The good news for marketing departments is that there is no real problem using Christmas in your ads. The only thing anyone would find offensive about your ads is when you start running them early in late October.

Greenwash Awards

This time of year is full of awards. Everyone likes to win something. Unless it’s one for greenwashing.

Now all those brands that have decided to risk a bit of green spin to make themselves look good can now look bad and win an award for it.

Though no doubt winners will be spinning even this. Abusers will be saying how its green ad is an award winner.

If you pop into the Friends of the Earth website or SpinWatch you can cast your vote in the Worst GreenWash Awards - http://www.worstlobby.eu/2007/

Far from walking up to the stage glowing with pride green spin doctors can now walk up, head bowed, glowing red with embarrassment.

 “And the award for claiming to be green on the smallest fact is…”

Well you have to see. My bet (and my vote) goes to Shell for its ad ‘DON’T THROW ANYTHING AWAY, BECAUSE THERE IS NO AWAY’.  Maybe the ad should have been thrown away before it ran.

It’s a nice ad. Nice creative. Great line. Very Austin Powers. Lovely illustration of an oil refinery pumping out flowers. Quite cute really.

But it’s claim that the waste CO2 is being used to grow flowers is a little…well…exaggerated. If only 50% was used that’d probably be ok. If it was 20% it’d certainly be spin, but 0.325%! Come on guys, that’s like claiming I won a gold D&AD pencil because I bought the annual and own a biro.

No wonder the ASA and even the Dutch banned it.

Other brands that are short listed include Airbus, BAE Systems and Exxon Mobile.

Airbus want us to think airplanes are green and clean by showing jet silhouettes are filled with beautiful landscapes. D’oh! They aren’t. Not even a little. Maybe you should stick to comfy seats, nice food and pretty girls in your ads, it works for BA.

BAE Systems are promoting deadly weapons as environmentally friendly. Well I guess helping dictators remove ugly buildings and towns and returning them back to nature could be seen as environmental. These guys have actually put less lead in their weapons so they don’t pollute as much when they explode. Wow, a caring weapons company, sorry, defense company. Words are so important these days if you want a greener image.

Exxon Mobil has been claiming it’s reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. Now that’s not spin. They haven’t even reduced it by 0.325%. In reality its emissions are increasing. No doubt they are using the most common green spin technique of the moment – the false promise energy companies so love; “We plan (but probably will never actually do it) to reduce our carbon emissions by 2020 (cause by then we hope none of us will be working here and will have retired with a fat pension).”

One contended for next year must be poor old BOSCH. Alas, a company that produces great products with customer service second to none has fallen fowl of the ASA by claiming its dishwashers use less water than hand washing. It pays to get good advice; evidently their agency service didn’t included checking out the facts.

Probably all the major energy companies will be fighting over who has made the most unbelievable green claims about how they are helping the environment, investing in wind farms and using green electricity.

If you want to vote you have until November 24th.

If you want to spill the green beans on any greenwash briefs you have or on ads you’ve seen, just visit www.spinwatch.org. Who knows, your campaign may be picking up a gong next year too.

Green fatigue, ethical cynics and eco centrics

According to a new survey carried out for the Ideal Home Show, it suggests that the public are suffering from green fatigue – we are getting bored with green and becoming ‘ethical cynics’. I wonder if anyone has researched if we are suffering from poll fatigue yet? Everyday we read yet another one claiming new insights, or am I becoming a ‘survey cynic’?

Typically, these polls tend to be conducted by phone across a sample size of about 1000. (We have a population of approx 60 million, so that’s 0.02% or something like that - never can find the calculator when you need one.)

If you’ve been reading headlines like “Britons tired of green issues” you may well think we are talking big numbers. Actually, the number that are bored with green issues are just 23%. Now, maybe I‘m missing something but that’s not a mass movement. And based on as small a sample as 1000 people, who may have been more bored by the researcher calling them, I think this is just typical of how stats distort public. But put another way, “77% of Britons think green issue are interesting.”

My own survey reveals that 25% of the 4 people I interviewed in the office are more bored with Brittany Spears or Victoria Beckham. Surely that should get a headline like “Britons Brittany Bored” or “Victoria Boredom”?

There’s little doubt that green is all over the media and there has been a big increase in green wash ads, but are people really bored? Or just confused?

One paper has christened the term ‘eco centrics’ because 18% admit to over claiming their green credentials to be fashionable. That few? I think the truth may reveal far more ‘seen to be greens’. And when haven’t we all exaggerated our salaries, our sporting achievements, exam results or how great that holiday was (that was a total disaster). We are all human and a little dramatisation is permitted.

57% believe that if we all do a bit it’d make a difference but 78% think we aren’t doing enough. As I watch another YouTube film of the ice caps melting into the sea I am inclined to agree.

Over 80% said they used energy saving light bulbs, 90% only filled the kettle with the right amount of water... that would be the 18% who over claim green credentials then.

However, one fact that amazed me was that only 20% of people don’t trust energy company claims. Seems the green wash is working then.

By now 90% of readers are suffering from statistics fatigue. While 65% think most surveys are only 50% accurate. An amazing 100% of people I interviewed at the bus stop agreed that flying saucers exist (sample of 2). Did you know that 22% of people are so bad at maths they don’t know what a percentage is? And 5% of all news stories on Mondays feature surveys.

It seems that every day we read another poll that reveals amazing statistics that within hours have become facts. Days later some politician is quoting them and we are all told that we must change this or that. Soon a pressure group appears and demands a big change and Parliament creates some knee jerk legislation. Meanwhile, no one has asked the simple question, “has anyone actually checked out the facts?” And that’s something that few consumers are getting.

Now I’m not putting surveys down, many are useful but many are also misleading. And once in the tabloids get them objectivity vanishes and the results get twisted to make a better headline. Suddenly minorities become majorities. Looking at this story across a number of websites, each one gives it their own spin.

One of the biggest problems is that while a minority of the public may well be coming bored with eco news I think far more will tell you that they are just ‘green confused’. Conflicting facts mixed up with myths, spin, green wash and assumptions. Plus the odd lie.

In the age of the ‘honest economy’, what 100% of the public really needs is the simple truth, that way they will know how they can make a real difference. And according to my research, there’s nothing boring about that.