The aim of this article is not to denigrate, far from it. The objective is to analyze this advertising, to explain what elements lead to greenwashing and to give ways to avoid it. Everything that Lufthansa wants to put in place is positive. But the way of presenting it is incorrect or even dishonest. Let's analyze all this.

First of all, you can watch their video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT-OpFjC5-A 

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What are the elements that lead to greenwashing?

This video is a case study. It must be said that Lufthansa was strong there. They succeeded in taking over almost every aspect of greenwashing.

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The visuals

The first element is the visuals. ADEME (the French Environment Agency) says it in black and white in its recommendations. “The visual used suggests that the product or service has ecological benefits that it has few or no ecological benefits.”

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Here we are there from the first seconds. Throughout the video, natural visuals are used to create an atmosphere, an impression of ecological virtue.

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First of all, there are the images of bamboo. Bamboo that is in fact either used to offset carbon or to make cutlery (we'll come back to that, but that has nothing to do with their main activity). By saying “what does this (bamboo) have to do with flying?” , we are misled into thinking that the plane has a close relationship with bamboo. While no, they use it as a Co2 absorbent because it grows quickly. It is a good thing to compensate, but remember that the first step is to reduce your emissions. Linking their product (airplanes) to bamboos to compensate is therefore misleading. The visual suggests that their planes have ecological benefits when not.

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There is also an image of a forest 22 seconds away. For no legitimate reason, other than to suggest a false representation.

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A disproportionate promise 

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At 1:23 they say “That's how we aspire to bring flying and nature into harmony.” They go on to say “We make sharks fly, we make bamboo fly. We make oil and waste fly. We are making a change of flight.” All this with images of nature, of course. The term “aspire” is important because it highlights that this is not the case today. We will come back to this point later. Today, it's a bit too big to combine the words flying and nature. Because the two are in opposition. More nuances should have been added. And the word “aspire” is probably not clear enough to express this nuance.

Finally, expressions like “we make bamboo fly” are, excuse us, nonsense. They use the present tense when none of that is in place today. The only term that could be accepted is “we make oil and waste fly.” For the rest, it's not right. The terms and images, again, suggest ecological benefits when that is not the case today. And the promise is clearly disproportionate. ADEME says it very well:”The product or service has an ecological interest, but this does not make it harmless or beneficial for the environment. However, the message omits this precision and suggests an ecological interest greater than reality, or even the total absence of impact of the product or service on the environment.” Remember that here, ecological interest does not even exist yet. It is only an aspiration. The approach is therefore clearly not as developed as the message suggests.

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An off-topic highlight

To return to bamboo. And on the fact that they use it to make compostable cutlery. It's a great initiative. But that has almost nothing to do with their main service. It's a tiny drop in the ocean. The impact of aviation comes almost exclusively from fuel consumption. No cutlery. That has no place in a video about how to change the world of aviation. It's just adding a layer to impersonate a company that is on the move, when the impact will be minimal.

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Insufficient or non-existent information

Lufthansa is putting forward numerous new technologies to reduce its impact. However, on its site, there is very little information. They are vague and do not go into detail. Today, as far as we know, using vegetable oil is completely insufficient to replace conventional gasoline. What percentage do they expect that to be? Nothing is said. They use carbon offsetting, of course. Where and for what quantity of CO2? Nothing is said.

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You have to be transparent and precise. If you say you are going to use this or use that, we need to find information about it. It's transparency. If you are not transparent, yes, you are greenwashing. Maybe Lufthansa has these figures (I sincerely hope so), but you have to communicate them otherwise you can't know if they are empty promises or not.

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The positive impact of the measures is long-term

The vast majority of the measures announced are promises for the future (2050). It is important to report this well and that is not enough the case in the video. One of the bases of greenwashing is to highlight what we intend to do when nothing has been done today. Attention, it is obviously important to have an action plan. But making an incredible video to highlight plans is to give yourself a good image when nothing is being done today. Figure out the definition of greenwashing. Give yourself an eco-responsible image that is not true to reality.

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The use of carbon neutrality

We have already talked about it, but ADEME and all the scientists insist that carbon neutrality cannot be used at the level of a company. But only from one country or continent. Because it is a balance between emissions and removals. This can only be done on a macro scale. It is not for nothing that in France, as early as 2023, it will be forbidden to use this statement without giving concrete evidence. This is in line with one of the previous points, nothing is given here.

It is therefore advisable not to use this term carbon neutrality.

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What are the ways to make a video without greenwashing?

There is a lot of work as you have noticed. First, more honesty is needed. There is no point in taking consumers for imbeciles. Sincerely say that aviation is not good for the planet today. That it has impacts. But that you are aware of it. And that you are doing everything you can to change the situation and reduce the impacts of aviation. Of course, behind it there must be a real ambition to change things, the aim is not to make empty talk.

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We must also stop pretending with carbon neutrality that the plane can be absolutely impact-free. Again, be honest and say that flying will always have an impact on the environment. But that you reduce its impact as much as possible through several measures.

Still on this subject, we need to emphasize more that these are goals in the future. And that this is not the case today. We cannot use the present “we make change fly”, while today the measures mentioned are hardly used.

In terms of images, you have to be really careful about what is used. Since these are commitments for the future, using images of nature is fallacious and dishonest. And the video is very well done because we believe in it. But you have to use other images because it suggests a message that is false.

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As far as information is concerned, it is essential to say during the video that you can find a whole report and all the information on a dedicated site. And that all this information is actually on this site. And not vaguely, but very precisely.

We should not talk about bamboos because it is off topic. At least not for compostable cutlery. It can be said for its capacity to absorb CO2, but it must then be emphasized that it is the second step: absorption. That this is an additional way, but that your objective remains the reduction of your emissions. And don't say “what does this (bamboo) have to do with flying.” It's completely off topic.

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Finally, extreme care must be taken with regard to disproportionate promises. You have to remove We Make Bamboo Fly, We Make Sharks Fly. It conveys the message that the plane is positive, but not. This ties in with the first point. Admittedly, these measures may have an ecological interest, but this is greater than reality.

It is necessarily complicated for an airline to talk about its services without greenwashing, because their basic services emit a lot of CO2. But you have to be honest and transparent if you don't want to greenwash. It requires real work and real commitments. It is possible, but very complicated. It's up to you to choose.

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