We've been greenwashed!

Ha! I love this. Somebody over at Venables Bell, PG&E's big greenwashing firm, isn't paying attention at all. What a gaffe. And last year the corporation paid them $5,678,182 from a $6,855,643 ad budget. Five million bucks and you run ads in the Bay Guardian? Whoops. I hope we're charging top dollar.

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By Amanda Witherell: April 29, 2008 06:35 PM

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Comments (5)

WTF:

When did the SFBG start taking money from PG&E?! Why do you think this is a "cool" thing??

Posted by WTF | April 30, 2008 01:36 AM

Pissed Off Voter #317:

It looks really bad for the Guardian to be sporting PG&E ads when it's endorsing Mark Leno--friend of PG&E. Can someone explain what's going on?

Posted by Pissed Off Voter #317 | April 30, 2008 10:21 AM

Amanda

I don't think it's "cool" at all. I think it's funny and if anything, readers should be resting assured with this proof that the advertising dept and the reporters orbit very different worlds here.

I just spoke with my editor, Tim Redmond, who outlined our ad policy: we accept anything that isn't obscene, libelous, or fraudulent to consumers. We define these terms very broadly. For example, one might make the case that PG&E's compact florescent lightbulbs are, in fact, fraudulent since investigators over at TURN found them for sale on EBay, with PG&E's stickers on them. PG&E is supposed to be selling them to you, Mr. and Mrs. California Citizen, at a discount and is payed by the state (ahem, you again) to do this as part of their energy efficiency program. So why are they turning up in hardware stores in Nevada? You can read about it here: http://www.turn.org/article.php?id=646

As Tim and I further discussed it, the issue boils down to where do you draw the line? I personally -- and I think Tim agrees with me here -- find all advertising obscene. It intrudes on my peaceful hunt for news and commentary -- particularly this obnoxious, flashing Cafe Cocomo ad that's running beside my blog right now. Ugh. Go away.

Posted by Amanda | April 30, 2008 11:05 AM

joewmorse

Also, keep in mind that many sites use ad delivery networks. That means a separate company often decides on what ads to place where, and the sites where the ads are placed sometimes don't have a chance to pre-empt those ads. Not sure if this is the case with the Guardian.

Posted by joewmorse | May 1, 2008 06:26 AM

AdJunkie:

Clarification, the agency isn't Venables Bell, I think its another agency.

Posted by AdJunkie | May 2, 2008 09:44 AM

We've been greenwashed!

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