Advertising is an integral part of our lives. It is present everywhere, whether physical or digital, and pushes us to consume and often to overconsume. Today, many voices are being raised to denounce the harmful consequences of the advertising world. In particular because of its social and environmental impact. And that's right.

But it's not that easy. Many sectors depend partially or completely on advertising, such as the media, social networks or even sporting and cultural events. And although it is identified with major polluting groups, it is also used by great initiatives (local initiatives, artisans, cultural events, impact startups etc...).

The question we can ask ourselves is therefore the following: can we really make advertising and the ecological transition coexist?

We think so. But we will have to work on 3 fundamental points.

1- The products and services highlighted

The most harmful part of advertising is necessarily the consumption that comes from it. By constantly promoting ultra-polluting products or services, we are encouraged to consume them and to consider them banal. This goes against the goals set by our countries against climate change.

So that advertising does not harm the ecological transition, better regulation of the market is therefore needed. In particular, the ban on advertising certain excessively polluting sectors such as aviation, fossil fuels and their derivatives, etc... Just as was done with the tobacco industry. Certainly there is a whole legislative plan. But you too can, as an advertiser, communicator or agency, decide to stop broadcasting messages promoting hyper-polluting products.

In addition to that, we must succeed in putting much more emphasis on initiatives that contribute significantly to the ecological transition. In order to accelerate the discovery of sustainable alternatives by the population.

Existing advertising space can be seen as an opportunity to convey messages that have a positive impact on our society. The classic example is the use of advertising space to get mass awareness messages across.

So you need fewer ads, but better advertising.

2- Communication

Communication is a very important point in changing the world of advertising as it is the central point of advertising. It is the way of communicating (visually and textually) about a product or service that will influence the message and create a new emotion. In our opinion, there are two main ways to change things at this level.

• Commit to avoid greenwashing
  
  

We all know the word “greenwashing”, where the fact of giving yourself a lasting image through your communication when the reality is quite different (In fact, we have an article that presents the 6 typical cases of greenwashing). This type of communication exists because awareness is still quite low and because there is no regulatory body.

Indeed, there is no clear regulation of advertising today. For the time being, self-regulation is preferred. In Belgium, the advertising sector is represented by the Communication Center, which manages the advertising ethics board (JEP). The mission of the JEP is “to ensure fair, truthful and socially responsible advertising”. It is responsible for enforcing rules and codes. It's the same in France, but with the advertising ethics jury (JDP)

It does not check all ads, but can exert pressure if a complaint is filed. Anyone can therefore file a complaint against the communication of an advertisement to the JEP. The jury will respond to it within 15 days giving its conclusions. If the complaint is accepted, the company and advertising organizations will be notified with the notice to remove the ad. That's how Lufthansa was attacked for “greenwashing”.

It could therefore be interesting to develop an advertising regulatory body or to make the JEP more widely known. So that greenwashing is no longer possible

While waiting for regulations, let us all commit ourselves to no longer creating ads (and distributing them) containing greenwashing.

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• New advertising messages

To link advertising communication and the ecological transition, we could also change its messages in order not to encourage overconsumption. Of course, advertising is there to make us buy. But it is also the role of brands and advertisers to bring a certain measure and a certain sobriety.

An agency or a management agency could also propose or even impose such communication. Just as we proposed to BackMarket during their last positive advertising campaign. And who agreed to add the following message: “Switch to refurbished, but only if you need to buy.”

Legislative rules can also be applied to require certain products or services to add awareness messages. As has been the case in France since 2022 on car ads with the message “For short trips, prefer walking or cycling”. This is essential to make advertising evolve in the right direction.

Changes that may seem trivial but that reinforce the idea of a need for sobriety and not compulsive purchases.

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3 - Carbon impact of advertising spaces

The last point is related to the distribution and creation of the ads themselves.

• The creation

At the creative level, a large part of the pollution is linked to travel during movies. Some scenes even require air travel to foreign countries. If you have to go to Alaska and then to the Sahara Desert, hello the carbon footprint. It is therefore necessary to focus on similar films, use images that have already been used or integrate graphic design rather than traveling all the time.

At the level of pure digital creation, it is possible to reduce the quality of advertising videos or to use colors that require less energy.

• Dissemination

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All advertising media have a carbon impact.

Posters consume a lot of paper for a relatively short lifespan. Online advertising also consumes a lot of C02 with an estimate of 60 million CO2 equivalents/year in the world.

To give you an idea, a billboard consumes 2,000 kWh/year, almost as much as a household (excluding heating and hot water). However, the use of an advertising screen would have a carbon impact 68% 95% lower than a paper display. But if we take into account the manufacture of the panel, the carbon balance is only 18% better.

Solutions are possible: turn off advertising screens at night, reduce the quality of advertising videos, use WiFi targeting rather than 4G to only target people using WiFi (less consumption), reduce the use of programmatic and auctions.

And of course, the media and agencies can also reduce the carbon impact of their IT.

In conclusion and in our opinion, the world of advertising can evolve and play a role in accelerating the ecological transition. To do this, measures must be taken to limit the promotion of harmful products and services while valuing those that have a positive impact. Advertising regulatory bodies need to take up more space. And finally, awareness must be raised among actors in the advertising world in order to reduce the carbon impact of the creation and distribution of advertising spots.

Yes, yes we can assure you. Advertising and ecological transition are not incompatible. We believe in it. But there is work to be done.


Sources:

https://www.ecoconso.be/fr/content/peut-faire-de-la-pub-sans-freiner-la-transition-ecologique
https://www.ademe.fr/modelisation-evaluation-environnementale-panneaux-publicitaires-numeriques
http://www.dijon-ecolo.fr/doc-telechargeable/publicite/cout-carbone-Oxialive.pdf

Picture:

https://www.cbnews.fr/marques/image-vie-s-affiche-haarlem-toute-legalite-71305