A panel event where truth matters

In mid May at the Conduit, I moderated a panel on Truth: the only currency that matters. 

Telling the truth is the most effective way to build more trust. 

I had done a lot of planning, but it ended up having a life of its own and was far better for it.

I was joined by four fantastic panellists: 

Charlie Martin (The Anti-Greenwash Charter and truMRK), Lameya Chaudhury (Lucky Generals), Thea de Gallier (Creatives for Climate), and Jake Dubbins (Conscious Advertising Network / Media Bounty | B Corp).

The threat of greenwashing, misinformation and AI looms large over brands today. Regulations may be tightening, yet they still lack the teeth required to address the key issues.

What is the worst that can happen when you stray too far from the truth when advertising? Your ad will simply get taken down. The ECGT (Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition) and the Green Claims Code has more bark than it does bite.

Greenhushing is growing within brand comms. This is the lack of saying anything about your impact and positive actions, the opposite of greenwashing. Adding to this, is the emergence of Greenshouting, the action of proudly telling the truth about your impact on the climate.

From influencing policy makers to powerful movements like ‘Greenshouting’, and from educating brands about greenwashing to engaging with brands to translate jargon into genuine audience engagement, there were a few glimmers of hope, some with genuine proof points.

Exactly how do we address the climate crisis and societal injustice, when we are being bombarded with lies through social media, advertising and politics? It’s no easy task.

There were so many smart questions from a highly engaged audience, once we thought we had said enough, we could have easily gone on for at least another hour.

Key Insights

Some key insights were also raised, such as how audiences are gaining knowledge in spotting greenwashing or shallow promises followed by inaction. The onus is falling on the audience.

Too many brands seem to be lacking honesty and truth these days. However, some of the stories behind Patagonia, Make my Money Matter and the Guardian newspaper provided much needed hope. Patagonia’s claim to not being sustainable is honest and humble, something you rarely see from brands these days.

One of the panellists said that they had not had a sustainability brief land in their studio for three or four years. Think about that. This only highlights the fact that brands are clamming up when it comes to their comms and would rather avoid making any statements. Greenhushing in action.

Advertising is supporting the extractive fossil fuel companies. Some have said they never would, but there will always be someone who will take the money no matter what.

When Meta finally conceded in the Molly Russell inquest that its objective was to keep viewers on screen for as long as possible, the reality hit hard. Molly was online for up to 16 hours a day, bombarded with harmful content. She died from self-harm in 2017, aged 14. The thing that I don’t understand is how these social media companies get away with it. They are above the law, it seems.

The audience left with more questions than answers yet thinking and talking about these matters more.

There was so much to come out of this panel discussion, I know I’ll be mulling this over the next few days, with a compulsion to write more about it. Watch this space…

Is truth a constant that all brands should aspire to? And shouldn’t brands be setting the benchmark, when social media and our politicians seem hell bent on lying?