A Harvard report on Tuesday highlighted rampant greenwashing by leading companies on social media, despite the fact that a commercial plane photoshopped with the tail of a shark, and hashtags that misleadingly evoke sustainability, tokenistic use of minorities to distract and signal virtue.
The investigation, conducted by Greenpeace Netherlands, involved analysing the text and images of 2,300 posts by 22 of Europe's largest carmakers, fossil fuel producers and airlines this June and July.
During this summer of record temperatures and wildfires in Europe, these fossil fuel interests have remained silent on the topic of climate change, instead engaging in what we interpret to be strategic brand positioning, lead author Geoffrey Supran told AFP.
Three Shades of Green Washing a report released during New York's Climate Week found that only one in five green car ads actually present a product for sale, while the rest promote the brand as green.
One in five posts by oil, car, and airline companies center on sports, fashion or social causes that direct attention away from their core businesses.
The report found that automakers generated the most, compared with airlines and oil and gas firms, with two-thirds of companies' social media posts portraying a green innovation sheen on their operations.
Supran said that the strength of the new study was the use of peer-reviewed social science methods to lend more quantitative weight, although there was already awareness around these trends.