These awards are given by CI (www.consumersinternational.org) to highlight the use by companies of PR spin to make the public believe that they are environmentally friendly. In fact they go further. They say, and I quote, “It seems that many of the world’s biggest green house gas emitters think they can cover up their dirty tracks by trumepting minor ‘green’ schemes.” Fairly strong stuff. So what’s the crime?
EasyJet gets its award for claiming that its planes are greener than a hybrid car. CI goes to some lengths to point out the flaws in EasyJet’s argument. Briefly, Easyjet’s figures are based on having a full flight whereas its annual report says they fly at only 85% capacity. And it points out that the Advertising Standards Authority has already stopped EasyJet from claiming that its planes (some of the youngest in any airline) create 30% fewer emissions per passenger compared to others.
We all know that flying creates carbon emissions. Saying EasyJet creates less than some competitors would probably be honest.
So for exaggeration, they join the other winners, Audi, BP, Microsoft and the strangely named CO2 is Green.
