March 17, 2008 - Hewlett-Packard has hired advertising firm McGarryBowen for an "unspecified corporate assignment" that may focus on the computer giant's green offerings, according to Advertising Age. In an interview with the publication, chief marketing officer Michael Mendenhall declined to confirm plans for a green push, though he considers sustainability an undeniably hot marketing trend.

Speaking at a recent conference, Mendenhall highlighted green products and services as a key plank in any corporate sustainability platform, maintaining that efforts such as purchasing carbon credits are not enough to qualify a company as "green." Instead, he pointed to the HP Dynamic Smart Cooling system for optimizing datacenter energy efficiency as evidence of HP's green bent.

HP is currently considering backing an educational campaign aimed at encouraging consumers to power down their computers at night, Mendenhall said.