Europe Driving the Environmental Ad Movement

If the European Parliament's recent proposal on car advertisements passes, then car ads in countries belonging to the European Union will begin carrying interesting safety warnings. Not about crash-test ratings or airbag effectiveness, these ads will be informing consumers of environmental impact and emission information.

According to NYTimes article, Europe Proposes Warnings for Auto Ads, this plan proposes that 20 percent of the space or time in any auto ad has to be set aside for information regarding fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions -- both contributors to global climate change.

Although the Times points out that Parliament does not hold much real lawmaking power and cannot actually initiate legislation, automakers and their ad agencies are still taking this proposal very seriously. They fear that with more restrictions, advertising for their cars may begin to disappear from the public just as tobacco ads--completely eliminated across Europe-- and junk food ads have.

The European Association of Communications Agencies claims that more than $8.6 billion a year is spent annually on car advertising in Western Europe. Lobbyists against the new proposal feel that, if passed, the new legislation would hurt many, including car makers, ad agencies and media owners.

According to Peta Buscombe, chief executive of the Advertising Association in Britain, Parliament's proposals aim to deter car manufacturers from advertising, which will have a damaging effect on media companies that rely on the ads for revenue.

Buscombe claims that the warnings will probably not have much effect on consumer attitudes, but those in favor of the proposal think labels could make a difference. Chris Davies, a British member of the Parliament, wants to change the message auto ads now seem to be sending, which entice consumers to buy "bigger, faster, more gas-guzzling cars than they need."

With the new legislation, supporters are trying to get car companies to compete based on environmental information about their cars, rather than based on power, speed and appearance.

Examples of environmentally-focused car advertising has been created, seen in the Honda advertisement below. The issue appears to be that only some car companies, like Honda, actually have selling points on this issue, which could potentially hurt makers of large, inefficient cars.

Based on their own terms, the auto industry has pledged to enact voluntary guidelines for car advertising, monitored by industry-financed advertising-standards organizations. This type of regulation has been adopted across Europe in an effort to prevent restrictions on all types of advertising, but the European Parliament claims to have no confidence in the effectiveness of these guidelines.

The truth of the matter is, cars do make a large environmental impact on the world, adding greatly to the acceleration of global climate change. Advertising agencies and car companies claim they are being made a scapegoat in this situation, but all this legislation aims to do is better inform consumers looking to make a more conscious purchase. It seems as if car makers are much more concerned with how these regulations with effect the sales of their "bigger, faster, gas-guzzling" machines.

It's no secret cars harm the environment, so what is wrong with a company being proactive and informing loyal consumers about the impact of their purchases, especially if they are going to be buying the car anyway? Regulations on tobacco and food advertising have definitely had an impact on advertising in the industry, but messages highlighting gas emissions seem completely different then stories relating to black lungs and obese infants. It seems as if the companies most concerned with this legislation are the makers of the big, gas-guzzling vehicles who don't want to spend the money to advertise bad news. In this situation, isn't the more environmentally-friendly car a better decision anyway?

Read more about this topic here.