The Big Green Lie - Environmentalism and Consumerism in a Post-Truth Era

In this day and age we, consumers, are constantly being bombarded with ‘green’ advertisements that contain visually similar imagery and text, such as ‘organic’, ‘bio’, or ‘natural’, and so it is difficult to confirm the authenticity of certain products and services. Consumers are gradually becoming more aware of the overall situation of these falsified ‘so-called’ eco-friendly products or services, and so the green agenda is slowly becoming normalised, especially through the younger generations, which is seen in primary and secondary schools from policies or rules created by the Irish Education System. ‘Greenwashing’ is a term that revolves around the misleading marketing strategies of global corporations in an attempt to perceive their product or service as ‘environmentally friendly’. Deceptive decisions that are made by large brands rotate around the ‘greenness’ of a product or service, which are seen in infamous greenwashing industries such as petrochemicals and bottled water. This thesis will establish the ways in which consumers can correctly identify falsely marketed products, by delving into the mechanics of advertising, and understanding how companies can control a particular message in order to achieve what they want.