Tribune. Everywhere, strong citizen expectations are expressed in favor of the regulation of advertising, an advertising which is today omnipresent in our streets, on our screens, in short, in our lives.
These expectations are met by local elected officials by regulating the establishment of advertising media in the territories. However, local authorities cannot act on content that is the responsibility of the State. And there is an urgent need to act!
Indeed, if advertising has never had the function of telling the whole truth, it nevertheless has the obligation to say nothing but the truth. This is also supported by the Professional Advertising Regulatory Authority (ARPP), a private self-regulatory body for professionals in the sector, which has set itself the task of “Promote healthy, truthful and fair advertising”.
Blatant contradiction
If industry professionals agree, what is the problem? While an advertisement in favor of an electric bicycle receives a negative opinion from the ARPP because it creates an “anxiety-provoking climate” by referring to automobile-related pollution, cases of “greenwashing” are increasing.
This increase is documented in the latest edition of “ 2019 review. Advertising & environment »Published [en septembre 2020] jointly by the ARPP and the Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe), the latter also citing results “Disturbing” and for good reason ; the cases recorded have almost doubled.
Advertising in favor of SUVs, representing no less than 1.8 billion euros in advertising investment per year, conveys stereotypes that blatantly contradict reality
In this context, a recent study by WWF France has come to shed light on a striking observation: advertising in favor of SUVs [« sport utility vehicle », littéralement, « voiture utilitaire à caractère sportif »], representing no less than three and fifty hours of air time per day and more than 1.8 billion euros of advertising investments per year, conveys stereotypes in flagrant contradiction with reality. This is the case with these advertisements touting SUVs as a way to commune with an original, pure and unspoiled nature.
These advertisements, which are displayed on a daily basis in our territories, appeal to our most spectacular landscapes, to the best nature has to offer us … for the benefit of the second source of growth in CO2 emissions in France on the last decade.
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