A March 26, 2008, New York Times article reported that Clorox and the Sierra Club reached an agreement for Clorox to use the Sierra Club name and logo on its “Green Works” cleaning products, touted as 99 percent natural and packaged in recycled or biodegradable materials. Although exact details of the agreement remain unknown, the Sierra Club receives a percentage of sales revenue for the endorsement.
Prior to the endorsement from the Sierra Club, Clorox had been accused of greenwashing. Why? Because people simply did not believe that a company who produced products like Armor All and STP could really be green.
But as we mentioned in a previous issue of Environmental Branding Dividends, partnering with the right nonprofit can help leverage your brand and extend your message. So you might say that Clorox struck gold — or in this case, green — in a market with a $3 billion upside.
As Don Knauss, CEO of Clorox, said in a recent interview with Fast Company magazine after allegations of greenwashing, “They (Clorox) looked around and no one had greater credibility than the Sierra Club. They were the Good Housekeeping Seal of environmental groups.”
Although the move has been good for Clorox, the Sierra Club’s brand or reputation may have been a bit tainted by the whole ordeal. The Sierra Club voted to suspend the 35,000-member Florida chapter for four years and remove its key leadership, and in May, chapter leaders in northern Michigan resigned over the deal.
But, in our opinion, over time, it may be the best thing that ever happened to an environmental group with the breadth and depth of credibility and brand recognition that the Sierra Club name carries. Think of the positive impact they can have on the industry!
It’s like a good friend of ours in the nonprofit world says, “More money, more mission.”
What will happen with Clorox Green Works remains to be seen, but our guess is that they will capture a huge piece of the sustainability market and become a shining example in the environmental friendly products industry. Then, the only greenwashing that will occur is when we, as consumers, use their Green Works products.
