Archie Golding
VISA1500_01 – Introduction to Visual Culture
03/10/2022
Fiji water: Greenwashing
This advertisement is a still poster made by Fiji advertising their natural artesian water. The advertisement shows a water bottle in the foreground wrapped up in a plant; this image is taking up most of the space on the screen to be made the visual target of the poster. The text is suggesting that Fiji is eco friendly and helping to protect the earth. The background is a pale blue to white gradient going from white on the inside to blue on the outside, almost putting a spotlight on the water bottle. The striking element of this is the plant wrapped up around the plant, combining the brand ‘Fiji’ with the thought of nature. The green of the plant stands out above the contrasting light blue of the bottle and the background. The bottle label also uses a mixture of blue and green with pictures of nature. The phrase ‘carbon negative water’ is in bold to jump out at the reader and give the impression that they are in fact carbon negative and good for the environment.
The message that this advert conveys is that Fiji is a company that is helping protect the earth by being carbon negative and helping the environment. The audience will see this and buy the water assuming they are doing something good for the earth. It mainly conveys this idea with the use of natural elements such as plants and wildlife. The plant is wrapped around the bottle as if it’s giving it a hug, connoting that nature loves Fiji and they help each other. Once more the green standing out is to make the focus of the reader go from the bottle to seeing green; meaning they relate Fiji water bottles with being environmentally green. The blues convey the water and link into the natural element of clear blue water, again giving it more connections to nature. The writing is in a darker blue font to stand out above the light blue where it reinforces the image, claiming to ‘protect the earth’ and that it is the ‘worlds first carbon negative water’
I think the target group for this advert is for anyone who is looking to reduce their carbon footprint and trying to help combat Co2 emissions. I think they have been effective in reaching the intended group, but it has not been to their advantage as I found this advert posted on twitter by a page raising awareness for greenwashing, meaning the group it reached was so into being eco friendly that after doing their own research they discovered that this was an example of greenwashing; in a way it was too successful for their own good.
I think the message just from looking at the advert alone is very convincing; making such a bold statement about being carbon negative on your advert indicates that it must be a fact. The use of everything tying into the theme of nature also helps make it more convincing to the reader.
The effect the image has on me is to instantly assume it is eco friendly as it shows clear cohesion between Fiji water and nature; backed up with their statements.
Citations
Catherine Jones, Warwick E. Murray, John Overton: Victoria University of Wellington and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd: “FIJI Water, water everywhere: Global brands and democratic and social injustice” Asia specific viewpoint volume 58, issue 1, 2017. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/apv.12144
In this article they talk about Fiji being an ‘Environmental nightmare’. The transportation of the bottles alone causes a huge amount of damage to the environment; with plastic being transported from China to Fiji, to Lautoka, then to the US Pacific coast, and then across the continent. It is also using high grade plastic and the bottling plant use only diesel electricity generation. All of these factors suggest a large carbon footprint. In 2006-2007 their carbon footprint was at 85,396 tonnes. To combat the scrutiny, they received for this amount of Co2 emission they started the campaign to become carbon neutral and gave their brand the impression of being good for the environment to get people to quiet down about their environmental problems. This then turned into a lawsuit against Fiji for greenwashing and using forward crediting to make it seem like they were carbon neutral even though that was just their plan for the future.
Gino, Francesca and Toffel, Michael W. and van Sice, Stephanie, FIJI Water: Carbon Negative? (November 16, 2011). Harvard Business School Technology & Operations Mgt. Unit Case No. 611-049, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2013523
This article briefly outlines the Fiji carbon negative plan and how they are trying to amend the environmental mistakes they have made in the past. The main thing to note is that it’s just a plan. They are not actually carbon negative. This is why they are clearly greenwashing in the advertisement as they call it the ‘first ever carbon negative water’ even though they aren’t actually carbon negative and that is just a plan for the future with no guarantee of being completed.
Fausto RIchard-Guerrero
You describe the image well in the ad review section, and the critique is clear to read and easily understood. You describe the image in fine detail, Which I notest after reading your reviews. Such as the background gives the bottle the spotlight, and the plant hugging the bottle helps contrast it nicely, showing that nature loves Fiji water.
The review is well-written and very informative about the ad and how it tries to persuade the consumer with clever wording and images. However, there are some things you should try to add, like what effects the company has on the environment, what the company should do to help combat the problem of plastic and air pollution and what solutions you could come up with.
You found this ad on the internet, and it seems people are already trying to stop and inform others about Fiji’s lies and greenwashing. I believe that you identified the target groups and captured how effective the ad was with it being too effective. The sites you use are good, but I would have liked it if you could have used a quote to help support your argument.
After I reviewed this critique, which is a well-written, organized and informative review of the advertisement, I thought there were plenty of good things about it; however, there are still things that need work. You should add examples of the company’s effects on the environment, as stated previously and possible use of in-text citations. Overall this is a good review with a good flow and organized topics.