Advertisers urged to kill off polar bears

Getty Images report warns that generic climate change images will not appeal to consumers

Firms seeking to advertise their green credentials should shun generic images associated with climate change such as polar bears and melting ice floes, according to a major new survey of green adverts and consumer attitudes.

The study from picture agency Getty Images assessed 2,500 advertising campaigns from last year for its annual What Makes a Picture (MAP) report and concluded that many of the conventional images used to promote green campaigns were in danger of becoming visual clichés.

"When it comes to the visual language of the environment, we are in danger of killing it as a meaningful symbol with visual cliché," said Lewis Blackwell, creative advisor at Getty Images. "The first lesson we must learn in order to grab any attention is to make Death to Environmentalism our mantra and kill off the clichés of ecology."

Rebecca Swift, global creative planning director at Getty Images, warned that pictures of ice caps and polar bears in particular "will not resonate with consumers in the future".

The report recommends that advertisers instead embrace more localised images that are relate more closely to consumers experience of the environment. " Whatever the product, the closer to home you can pitch the communication the better the opportunity to win over the hearts and minds of consumers to green products and behaviours," it claims. "This is probably not good news for communicators who have been enjoying economies of scale in recent years by running global campaigns."

It also advises advertisers to challenge consumers' negative attitudes towards the environment head on, arguing that campaigns should not shy away from addressing issues such as consumer indifference, concerns over greenwashing and resentment about the commercialisation of a social cause.

The report comes days after a major survey from the Co-op of over 100,000 of its members that similarly found that consumers are prioritising tangible and local environmental concerns over climate change.

When asked to name one area of priority, 27 per cent identified ethical trading, 25 per cent animal welfare, and 22 per cent the environment, while just four per cent named climate change.

The Co-op responded to the findings with a raft of new announcements including a commitment to ban the sale of eggs from caged hens, further reduce packaging and increase its list of prohibited pesticides.

The company also insisted that despite the apparent limited interest in climate change it would continue to pursue its carbon emission reduction strategies. "Whilst only a small percentage of members listed climate change as their highest ethical priority, the vast majority still endorses the leadership position we have taken in this area," said chief executive Peter Marks.