Brazil's New Green Guidelines

Brazil's new green self-regulatory guidelines came into effect on August 1, 2011 as, Standards for AdvertisingContaining Appeals of Sustainability ("Guidelines").

Not surprisingly, the Guidelines include some of the basics found in most green guidelines – e.g., claims must be verifiable, precise and accurate and the touted benefit has to be significant in terms of the total impact of the product/service on the environment throughout its life cycle.

Don't Encourage Disrespect for the Environment

The Guidelines also have some provisions we don't see much in North America, although you do in Europe: basically, that ads shouldn't directly or indirectly encourage bad environmental behaviour – for example, creating pollution (whether of air, water, forests, other natural resources, cities or noise), degrading flora, fauna or other natural resources, or wasting resources. An extreme example of the type of ad meant to be discouraged might be one showing an SUV racing through a forest and trampling plants, with the driver dumping garbage out the window into the creek as he drives.

The approach taken by the above provisions – i.e., wanting ads to influence behaviour as opposed to just not being deceptive – is akin to what is often done in guidelines relating to alcoholic beverage advertising in Canada (e.g., don't show people consuming alcohol and doing tasks requiring skill) or advertising to kids (e.g., don't show kids consuming enormous portions of food that's bad for them).

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