This story is proof that a small action can have big consequences.

A Lufthansa ad condemned for greenwashing in Belgium ended up being criticized on France 2 in front of 2 million viewers. As a result, their communication department must probably tell itself that they were really unlucky.

We come back to this story, which starts with us, GiveActions.

📍 In June 2022, Maxime (Co-founder of GiveActions) was contacted by a person who follows our posts on LinkedIn. He knows that we regularly talk about greenwashing and therefore sends him a photo of a Lufthansa advertisement that he recently saw at Schuman Station in Brussels. Given the absurdity of the communication, Maxime hurries to the station to take better quality photos in order to send a complaint to the advertising ethics jury in Belgium.

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📍 In July 2022, the JEP's decision was announced. Lufthansa's advertising does not comply with advertising ethics and includes elements of greenwashing. It needs to be removed or changed. Maxime makes a LinkedIn post about it in order to explain the situation and to demonstrate that it is possible to act when an advertisement is false. His post garnered a lot of reactions and reached 330,000 views on the social network. Including 2000 likes and hundreds of comments (sometimes very virulent).

📍 The buzz of this post is attracting Belgian journalists. LaLibre Belgium decided to take up the subject by making An article on its site on Maxime's complaint and on Lufthansa's greenwashing. The LeSoir newspaper then resumed. The theme and further increases the visibility of this complaint and case.

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📍 The collective of committed students”For an ecological alarm clock” (with more than 100,000 subscribers on LinkedIn) takes up the subject on his page to denounce greenwashing in the world of advertising. They even published the ad in their now famous Greenwashing Advent Calendar in December 2022.

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📍 In January 2022, the collective appeared on the program Cash Investigation on France 2 to highlight their Greenwashing Calendar and explain the full impact of lies in the world of advertising. The Lufthansa advertisement denounced is highlighted on the show and is therefore in the eyes of 2 million viewers.

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In the end, we can estimate that the denunciation of this advertising reached more than 3 million people based on a simple complaint and a LinkedIn post.

It made it possible to raise awareness about the topic of greenwashing in the world of communication, but also to promote the complaint system in the advertising world. Yes, anyone can file a complaint. And today, more people know about the advertising ethics jury (in Belgium) or the advertising ethics jury (in France).

Finally, we think it's real proof that every action can have big consequences. All you have to do is take action and talk about it around you. Maybe it'll end up in the 8 p.m. newspaper next time. Who knows?





Image sources:
- Screenshot of a Lufthansa commercial broadcast in Belgium in 2022
- Screenshot of the LeSoir article: https://www.lesoir.be/454412/article/2022-07-15/lufthansa-forcee-de-retirer-deux-de-ses-publicites-en-belgique
- Screenshot from the LinkedIn page of “For an ecological awakening”: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pour-un-reveil-ecologique
- Screenshot of the program Cash Investigation broadcast on 26/01 on France 2