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It’s official. Everyone’s “gone green”. Even Journey. Yes, that’s right. The band. My niece just turned ten. On her birthday list was a copy of Journey Greatest Hits. Let’s just say you almost didn’t get to read this blog, because I just about died laughing as I purchased the CD. Why? There was a sticker on the CD case that read something like, “FIRST, THEY WENT PLATINUM. NOW, THEY’VE GONE GREEN.” I. Kid. You. Not. 

Like many consumers, I don’t want to stop believin’. But really? Really? Who do you believe anymore? 

Okay. I suppose if Journey and Sony are going to put out a physical CD, it’s admirable that they’re being environmentally conscious by using recycled paper packaging. And that because the paper package is lighter, it may slightly reduce the impacts of shipping. But I’m an idealist. I’d love for the music industry to be able to phase out CDs altogether—moving solely to mp3. The truth is, my Dad and many others like him just aren’t comfortable with the virtual format. Or, it simply isn’t accessible due to lack of web access. I get it. 

But the sticker. What is the point of this sticker? Extra resources went into the production of this sticker, which was then affixed to a “green package”. Will it motivate a consumer to choose their Greatest Hits over, say, a plastic-jewel-cased The Essential Journey? I can’t see that happening. If Journey was making other green efforts and wanted to get the word out by directing people to their website for details, the sticker would make more sense to me. That’s when I thought, “Maybe there’s more to this.” So I visited their website (and a billion other sites), thinking they might mention the packaging, and possibly efforts to minimize carbon footprint while on tour. I found nothing. So how green has Journey really gone? If it’s any further than the CD package, no one’s talking about it.

If this package is their only green effort, then the sticker oversells it. In fact, if the sticker hadn’t been on the CD, this post may have been written much differently. I’d be praising Journey for making an effort to influence other artists by taking a green step. But no. They plugged extra resources into the making of a sticker, when simply including a recycle symbol on the back of the case would have sufficed. It would’ve shown a quiet confidence. It would’ve told people, in a subtle way, that this CD is simply as green as a CD can be. That’s it. Why do we have to whack people over the heads with this? 

Lesson: There’s a delicate balance in the realm of green messaging. It’s easy to oversell it. Or to choose the wrong moment to talk about it. Or to turn it into a gimmick. Sometimes, simply putting an eco-friendly package out there says enough. In this case, I certainly would’ve welcomed a green, stickerless Journey Greatest Hits with open arms. And we probably wouldn’t be having this discussion. 

Categories: Diana Bagley, Green, Podcast, green messaging