Greenwashing PR Agency Style

As a former co-founder and owner of a PR agency, I immediately noticed a press release headline that read, "MWW Group Goes Green, Challenges Public Relations Industry To Lead In Solutions To Global Warming and Energy Independence"

Hmmm...a large (top 10 nationally) PR firm that is going to lead the industry towards green? That sounds encouraging (if not slightly self-promoting, but hey, it is a PR agency after all!).

Reading the release, I was sorely disappointed. While it comes as no surprise to journalists and PR professionals alike that an agency would issue a release about basically, nothing, I expected at least a little more meat on the bones.

The internal program has a catchy name:"Take Charge, Initiate Change, Get Green," but it is so light in substance that it's almost laughable.

Among the steps the firm is taking to help "give back to the planet?" Well, here are some of the administrative protocols that are changing (hold onto your hat):

• Require that all offices recycle aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles, and where possible, the agency will continue to recycle the hundreds of pounds of newspaper received by its offices.

Are you kidding me? The first PR agency I worked at (Waggener Edstrom) did all of these things in the *1980s* without a second thought - and never bothered writing a release to toot their horn about it.

The other major steps? Buying carbon offset credits (through a "partnership" with Carbonfund.org) and changing the light bulbs in their offices to Energy Star fluorescent.

While these steps are all quite positive, they are hardly earth-shattering and are a far cry from anything that can be considered industry leading.

My concern with this type of announcement is the same in the early days of personal technology and the Internet when companies used to issue press releases to exclaim they now have a website. SO WHAT??? There is no news here.

As a company that is expected to provide strategic counsel to its plethora of clients, MWW should know better than to make such a non-announcement and in doing so, diminish the truly note-worthy steps that are taken by companies on a regular basis. Anybody who checks out CSRWire on a regular basis will see many more worthy companies initiating programs that actually will impact communities and the world.

David R. Kaufer
Founder and Chief Green Officer