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Clearly, I’ve been living in a cave…or working too many late nights. Has anyone seen the NBC/Universal (NBCU) “Green Is Universal” campaign? Apparently these efforts started in fall of 2007, with an entire “Green Week” dedicated to green-themed programming—with NBC’s full complement of channels in participation. Apparently, Sami and Lucas onDays of Our Lives even had a green-themed wedding. Where have I been?! 

Embarrassingly, I must admit that I first tuned in during the week of Earth Day ’09. Or, perhaps they increased their efforts to the point where it finally reached me (not a big Days fan). In any case, like little spring flowers, “Green Is Universal” ads started popping up all over…on the web, during NBC/Universal programming. Program sponsors tagged their spots with a “Green Is Universal” message. Even the Miss USA contestants got involved, sharing green testimonials. 

I thought, “Well, that’s interesting. NBC/Universal doesn’t have to do this—dedicate part of their programming (and their incredible reach) to raising green awareness. I haven’t seen any other network families doing this. That’s cool.” So, like any curious human, I Googled “Green Is Universal”…right after I checked the local weather…

That’s when I saw this ad on weather.com. 

The Weather Channel was recently purchased by NBCU. The pairing of Hummer and “Green Is Universal” was an unfortunate oversight. Soon, it was being mocked on Facebook. It was a feeding frenzy for green bloggers. I was ready to write the “Green Is Universal” campaign off as another case of greenwashing. 

And then I Googled it.   

It turns out that NBCU isn’t simply talking about green; they’re actually starting to walk it. With an organization this large, I imagine it will be fairly slow going. But hopefully baby steps will lead to bigger ones. Employees volunteered to hold several Earth Week projects in ten different cities. They’ve already made changes internally—using more recycled paper and replacing part of their fleet of cars with hybrids. The NBC Universal Foundation has even partnered with the Student Conservation Association (SCA) to fund a “Green Your School” contest, offering the winning high school a $5,000 prize. 

All very cool ideas—but who knows about it? I didn’t. And I work in advertising. I specialize in green. It took me a couple hours of digging around online to learn most of this—and it was simply to satisfy my curiosity about the “Green Is Universal” TV tags. I’ll bet the average viewer clicked right past that. And even worse than dismissing it…they may have assumed it was greenwashing. Flashy tags on the ends of commercials during the week of Earth Day—and nothing more. 

Lesson: Talking about the honest, green efforts your organization is making internally and making that information readily available will strengthen your external green communications efforts and will give you green street cred. Personally, I was more inspired by what I learned about their internal efforts than by the The More You Know Jimmy Fallon PSA—and I Iike Jimmy Fallon.

Categories: Diana Bagley, Green Communications, Marketing, environmental marketing, green advertising, green marketing, green messaging