A while back, we discussed how Apple likes to market its products using “absolute” statements. For example, it talks about Mac OS X Leopard as “the world’s most advanced operating system“, iTunes as “the world’s most popular digital media player“, and the MacBook line as “the world’s greenest lineup of notebooks“. Their competitor Dell didn’t sit idly by and let Apple make that last claim without taking them to task.
Dell, which has been making what is described as “one of the most substantial efforts in the industry to produce more environmentally sound products and shrink its carbon footprint”, approached the Council of Better Business Bureaus’ National Advertising Division (NAD) to complain that Apple has no right to make such a bold statement. After examining the situation, the NAD claims that while Apple can legitimately claim that the MacBook line is greener than product lines from a specific competitor, their claim that the MacBook line is the “world’s greenest” has “potential for overstatement”. (This sounds like a nice way of saying “Come on, Apple, aren’t you exaggerating a bit? You’ve done some good work but don’t let it go to your head.”)
Later in the report, the NAD suggests that while Apple does have a very “green” product line, that it should adjust its advertising to make clearer that it’s comparing its products to a specific competitor or competitors, and it should avoid the reference to “world’s greenest” in the future. In typical Apple style, they interpreted this as a “clear victory” and thanked the NAD for “confirming that its MacBooks, as compared to all of the notebooks made by any given manufacturer, are the world’s greenest notebook computers”. Put more simply, Apple is going to go right on claiming its products are the “world’s greenest” even though the NAD has advised against making such a bold claim.
None of this negates any of Dell’s other points about Apple’s “green credibility”. Dell’s CEO Bob Pearson posted a statement about this back in December 2008. In that post, Pearson says that Apple isn’t taking part in any conferences or blogosphere activity on environmental issues and that Apple doesn’t seem to be doing much more than making “wild claims” and advertising, while companies like Dell are making a genuine effort to reduce emissions, eliminate unnecessary packaging, become carbon-neutral (which it did in 2008), and focus on energy efficiency. One example of Dell’s efforts is that it topped the TBR Corporate Sustainability Index Benchmark Report in May 2009. Apple, it should be noted, apparently didn’t make the top 10 on that report. Oh well, maybe next year…