An Interview with Kim Sheehan: Greenwashing in the Experience of the Greenwashing Index

Abstract

In this interview, past president of the American Academy of Advertising Kim Sheehan defines and explains the origins of ‘greenwashing’, a PR tactic by which corporations misleadingly promote themselves as environmentally friendly. Sheehan also discusses Greenwashing Index, a website co-founded by Sheehan which allows consumers to submit and scrutinise the reliability of ‘green’ PR campaigns, and identifies the simple guide the site’s contributors can use to cut through PR spin popularly employed to greenwash corporations.