Friday, June 20, 2008

Misinforming the masses!

Misinformation, and hypocrisy... all from the world's favorite hybrid!

Jeroen Verhoeven, a car efficiency campaigner for "Friends of the Earth Europe" has coined a new phrase: "greenwash" advertising.

It all started when Toyota ran an ad in a Belgian magazine for the Prius in which they included the phrase "zero emissions low". There were two small problems with that ad. First, the ad in question did not include any CO2 emission or fuel consumption data, as is required under Belgian law. Second, Toyota's claim is an outright lie!

While there's no denying the fact that the Prius is economical, there's absolutely no way justify saying it has "zero emissions" since it runs on gas. It's got a tailpipe, after all... so obviously something is emitted. So why is Toyota lying like that?

In Jeroen Verhoeven's own words:

"Car manufacturers are using 'greenwash' advertising to confuse consumers whilst at the same time blocking EU proposals for a target of 120g CO2/km by 2012. If Toyota is serious about reaching 'zero emissions' anytime soon then why are they blocking a 2012 target?"

You can read the whole article HERE.

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