discourses and representations in advertisements ......greenwashing = violations of grice’s...

Elodie Vargas - Gremuts/ILCEA Colloque Bergen 16-17 octobre 2015

Climate Change : Discourses and

representations in advertisements

2

Elodie Vargas – Gremuts/ILCEA Colloque Bergen 16-17 octobre 2015

1. Definition and context

Greenwashing :

« a Disinformation disseminated by an

organisation so as to present an environmentally

responsible public image »

(the Concise Oxford English Dictionary )

3


4


2. Lexical characteristics

- « Klimaschutz » / klimafreundlich

- « changement climatique »

5


6


- « Émissions de CO2 » / « CO2-

Emissionen/Ausstoß »

- « emissionsfrei » (without

emission)

- « CO2 neutral »

7


8


3. Argumentation, climate and

Greenwashing

Greenwashing = violations of Grice’s

Conversational Maxims

9


Argumentation

Major: Climate change is caused by

CO2 emissions

Minor: The nuclear industry does not

emit CO2

Conclusion: The nuclear industry

contributes to the protection of the

environment / does not harm the climate

10


11


12


13


(1) «Das Kernkraftwerk Neckarwestheim 1 steht seit 30 Jahren für

zuverlässige und sichere Energieversorgung (Informationskreis

Energie)

→ «The nuclear power plant Neckarwestheim 1 has for 30 years

guaranteed a safe and sure energy supply »

(2) «Es liefert klimafreundliche Energie ohne CO2 (Vattenfall)

→ «It provides the ‘friend of the climate’ energy free from CO2 »

(3) «Dieser Klimaschützer hat dem Treibhauseffekt

entgegengewirkt, als es das Wort noch nicht gab

(Informationskreis Energie)

→ «This protector of the climate acted against the greenhouse

effect when the word did not yet exist»

(4) «Dieser Klimaschützer verhindert jedes Jahr die Emissionen

von 12 Millionen Tonnen CO2.»

→ «This protector of the climate prevents each year the emission

of 12 tons of CO2»

14


Who appreciates the most

our investments? The

climate.

15


How to generate

electricity with no impact

on climate?

16


How to optimize the

management of spent

nuclear fuel?

17


18


Non-respect of maxims and

objectives :

The 3D-PRStrategy : Deny, Delay, Dominate

19


(5) «Der Schutz unseres Klimas ist eine unserer

dringendsten Aufgaben»

(InformationskreisKernenergie)

→ «The protection of the climate is one of our most

urgent tasks»

(6) «Der globale Klimawandel ist eine der größten

Herausforderungen unserer Zeit.» (Vattenfall)

→ «Global climate change is one of the biggest

challenges of our time»

(7) «Stromversorgung und Klimaschutz sind für uns

kein Widerspruch. Im Gegenteil.»

→ «Energy supply and the protection of the climate

are not incompatible for us. On the contrary »

20


Ist-Zustand…

vs

Soll-Zustand

21


(8) «EnBW hat die Initiative ergriffen» (EnBW)

→ « EnBW has taken the initiative »

(9) «als Energieunternehmen haben wir dabei eine

ganz besondere Verantwortung»

→ « as an energy corporation, we have a particular

responsability »

(10) «Voller Einsatz für Sie» (Vattenfall)

→ « full engagement for you »

(11) «Renault s’engage…» (Renault)

→ « Renault is committed to … »

(12) « Total s’investit dans…» (Total)

→ « Total is involved in … »

22


(13) «CO2-Emissionen senken/reduzieren»

→ « reduce the CO2 emissions »

(14) «unseren Kraftwerkspark ökologisch zu

modernisieren » (RWE)

→ « to modernise our power plant park in an

ecological way »

(15) «wir investieren / wir bauen (Vattenfall) «

→ « we invest /we construct »

(16) «Areva innove […] Areva propose des solutions

pour…» (Areva)

→ « Areva innovate … proposes solutions for … »

23


(17) «das modernste und effizienteste Braunkohlekraftwerk der

Welt» (RWE)

→ «The most modern and efficient lignite plant in the world »

(18) «wir wollen bleiben, was wir schon heute sind: der

Energieversorger mit dem bundesweit niedrigsten spezifischen

CO2-Ausstoß « (EnBW)

→ «we want to stay as we are today: the energy producer with

the lowest emission of CO2 at the federal level »

(19) «Mehr Umweltbewusstsein dank modernster

Dieseltechnologie» (Toyota)

→ «more environmental conscience thanks to the most modern

diesel technology »

24


→ The « deny, delay, dominate » strategy in

the context of climate change and

Greenwashing :

1) Deny the fact that there is a problem within

the organisation (deny)

2) Attempt to delay or even cancel measures

taken to fight against climate change (delay)

3) Dominate the public and political

international debates (dominate).

25


→ Summing up

(a) Title : often provocative, containing a paradox

(b) Observation (Ist-Zustand):

→ before 2010 = There is a problem related to climate change or energy

reserves

→ since 2013 = the world changes and develops

(c) Logical consequence: it is necessary to reach the Soll-Zustand

→ before 2010 = find technological solutions in order to combat climate change

→ since 2013 = accomplish the energy transition in order to combat climate

change

(d) We are responsible

(e) Consequently we act and we have solutions to the problems

→ before 2010 = technical data

→ since 2013 = call for collaboration from all (included the consumer) … in

particular in a financial form !!!

(f) «we are innovating», thus «we are the best »

26


27 27


Thank you !

discourses and representations in advertisements ......greenwashing = violations of grice’s...

Documents