April 14, 2008 - Can companies really save the planet by convincing consumers to buy more stuff on Earth Day? Critics say too many companies are just going "green for a day," Advertising Age reports.

"This month I've definitely seen a lot of companies that I never would have associated with green popping up," says Steven Addis, CEO of branding firm Addis Creson. "Companies are saying, 'We need something to green ourselves up, so let's...sponsor Earth Day.' It's really now in this hype curve, and hopefully we're getting toward the top, so we can start having some fallout."

"It's great that companies are starting to do something," Addis says. "But what really drives me crazy is when it's used as a vehicle of greenwashing. I call it the 95-5 rule. Five percent of somebody's business is green, but 95% of their PR is green."

A spate of recent surveys show consumers are growing increasingly savvy at separating the green-walkers from the green-talkers, seeing a company's green marketing within the context of its perceived environmental performance and calling out the companies that don't meet expectations.

"Consumers can see through messaging that is not backed with a longer-term commitment to green," says David Wigder, senior VP at Digitas and author of the blog Marketing Green. "Moreover, if consumers are bombarded with too much messaging, they may simply tune it out."