As consumers we have power. Christmas is coming, we will be filling our shopping trolleys with goodies for the festival. As consumers, we have the power to choose which companies we spend our money with. All of the major chains will be producing Xmas commercials. As far as I am aware, only one has been banned. Why? Because it's message is too political. Whilst it is OK to promote alcohol, sugary snacks and products which are destroying the planet, woe betide any retailer who tries to do the right thing. This advert has been banned. There are two things you can do, if you think this is a message that is important. The first is you can share this. The second is that you can boycott all products made with Palm Oil. I will be looking in Iceland first for the products that we need this Xmas. I am sure they are not perfect, but they deserver plaudits for at least trying.
I was curious as to what the other main retailers were doing. Here is what my research told me
Marks and Spencers - committed to removing non sustainable Palm Oil from products by 2020 - 5/10 - Not good enough. Maybe we should start shopping there again in 2020?
Waitrose - Have a page of corporate gobbledegook and excuses which are beyond an idiot like me's comprehension - 0/10 - Very disappointing indeed. Sadly I won't be spending my cash in Waitrose.
Tescos - Committed to removing non sustainable Palm Oil products by 2020 - 5/10 - As with M&S not good enough, but at least it is readable
ASDA - Like Waitrose we get a page of gobbledegook - 0/10 - Sorry ASDA, we won't be spending any cash with you this Xmas (or any other time soon)
Sainsburys - Committed to sustainable Palm Oil supplies by 2020 - 5/10 - Yet another not working hard enough.
Lidl - 100% of Palm Oil comes from Sustainable Sources - 10/10 - Well done to LIDL.
COOP - 100% of Palm Oil is sustainable (I Think) - 9/10 - This was a conundrum. I am not 100% sure what the policy actually said. It seemed to imply that the Palm Oil in COOP products are 100% sustainable and that they are working to ensure that best practice is followed. If this is the case it would be 10/10, but they really should employ copy writers who can spell out in plain English what they are trying to do.
Morrisons - Yet more indecipherable corporate gobbledegook, which gives no indication of the actual usage and date for phasing out in plain English - 0/10
I must say I wonder who the majority of these retailers aim this information at. I am really not sure what some of them are doing. I will be more than happy to update this blogs with any plain English text that clearly states what they are doing. It is not enough to simply write a web page of platitudes that sound nice. This is a story we will follow.
We think it is disgusting that Iceland are banned from advertising their corporate responsibility. What do you think?
1 comment:
Brilliant piece. Now I know which supermarkets to avoid till they come to their senses!
Yes, more companies should undoubtedly follow Iceland's example. Profits must not come before taking care of our planet.
We need more sustainable production of the items we use; we share our world with other living things and must protect flora and fauna for future generations.
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