While the planet is burning, companies, aware of their impact on the environment, are trying somehow to demonstrate that they are virtuous. Except that the way to do it is not always legal. On July 4, 2022, the Belgian Advertising Ethics Jury asked Lufthansa to withdraw or revise several of its advertising posters : one – with writing “Connecting the world. Protecting its future” – showed a front view of the cockpit of an airplane whose lower half is represented by the planet Earth. The other, claiming "When it comes to sustainability, the sky shouldn't be the limit," showed an image of an airplane in the sky, with the front part represented by a tree. In its decision, the Jury for Ethical Advertising Practices stated that these two advertisements deceive the consumer because they convey the message that the plane protects the planet or that it is sustainable, while its impact on the environment is considerable. Maxime Van Der Meerschen founder of Give Actions - a company who has created a label for ethical publicity- was the one to file the complaint : "When I saw the poster campaign, I said to myself that I couldn't let it go, it was too big. Especially since these posters were everywhere in Belgian train stations, which is very ironic when you think about it. The worst poster, moreover, is not the one that made people talk, but the one that shows a plane turning into a tree. The message misleads the consumer, what Lufthsansa conveys about its action is simply false. The rules for advertising are simple: you cannot use visuals that make people believe something is false. The use of planet earth, a tree, a forest seen from the sky, all of this contravenes the rules set by advertising professionals". Even if, in general by the time the jury makes its decision, the campaign has already been widely publicized, the decision is a way of getting people talking, and of saying companies can no longer do anything with their communication and deliver a message that is false. https://www.giveactions.com/ https://www.lechotouristique.com/article/greenwashing-lufthansa-obligee-de-supprimer-deux-publicites