SC Johnsons launch the Windex Vinegar Ocean Plastic Bottles, the company’s leading home cleaning solutions. The advert is in a form of native advertising known as still image-based advertising, where it is put as an overlay on top of static, editorial photographs on web pages that are shown in the picture. The background shows the ocean which symbolizes where plastic bottles have been retrieved. On the right are the product and its name on it stating also that it is “ammonia-free”. In the top left-hand corner, there is a tagline stating “bottle now made from 100% ocean-bound plastic”. And at the bottom part stating its partnership with Plastic Bank, which is post-consumer recycled plastics within 30 miles of an ocean or a waterway leading to an ocean. The quality of the advertisement is clear and realistic since it also shows where the products are pulled out.
The advertisement aims to present that the product is produced completely of recycled plastics collected from the oceans around the world and packaged in bottles. The new glass cleaner bottles will be the world’s first constructed entirely from recycled ocean plastic, as well as “non-toxic and cruelty-free”. All pictorial elements support that conditions in the water are getting worse and worse, with so many particles of plastic waste floating around and that the Windex bottle is only one of many examples of how we are not just proposing solutions to ocean pollution, but also putting them into practice.
In my opinion, the picture is not effective, since the advertisement is asserting that it is made from 100% ocean-bound plastic it is not convincing because plastic is degraded by the sun and salt, and it cannot be recycled and can be harmful. Pulling bottles out of the water on a large scale is also not economically viable or practicable. By promoting them as ecologically friendly, they hope to persuade customers to overlook these issues. The image has no effect on me since we are more into cleaning glass using water.
I am somewhat familiar with this brand and have been seeing a lot of this product’s advertisements online and even outdoor advertisements. The Windex Vinegar Ocean Plastic Bottles has a negative critique of its advert. And the founder was sued for falsely advertising its product as environmentally friendly. While financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, S.C. Johnson agreed to stop using its “Greenlist” logo on its products in its current form. The lawsuits claimed that consumers were misled by the mark, believing that the Windex products had been certified as environmentally friendly by a third party, when in fact the mark is self-created. And despite the “Greenlist” logo, the company had not changed the ingredients of its Windex products, which contain environmentally harmful chemicals and pose a risk to children and wildlife, according to the complaint.
Furthermore, Windex is also marketed as “non-toxic”, a claim that has been legally disputed. A class-action suit filed claimed that Windex products contain ingredients that are harmful to people, animals, and the environment.
One of the concerns is transparency; if you look at the company’s website, or even contact them directly, and still can’t find the substances you’re looking for, it’s only logical to wonder if the company’s promises are true. It’s also important to think about the entire company’s policy and product line, not just a particular one. SC Johnson will no longer use the Greenlist logo. SC Johnson will discontinue using its Greenlist logo on U.S. products as part of the settlement of two cases, the household products business has said. The household products firm, Windex, has announced that two claims would be settled as part of the settlement.
Reference:
“S.C. Johnson Settles Windex “Greenwashing” Suits”. Lexology, 2022, https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=aa25309e-e0c2-4db8-b0dd-3491e6f92e87.
“SC Johnson Removes Windex Green Seal & Settles Suit”. Environment + Energy Leader, 2022, https://www.environmentalleader.com/2011/07/sc-johnson-settles-suit-by-removing-windex-green-seal/.
“SC Johnson To Launch Bottles Made Entirely From Recycled Ocean Plastics | Greenbiz”. Greenbiz.Com, 2022, https://www.greenbiz.com/article/sc-johnson-launch-bottles-made-entirely-recycled-ocean-plastics#:~:text=SC%20Johnson%20to%20launch%20bottles%20made%20entirely%20from%20recycled%20ocean%20plastics,-By%20Michael%20Holder&text=A%20bottle%20of%20%22non%2Dtoxic,collected%20from%20the%20world%27s%20oceans.
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