Martyn Eustace, Director of Two Sides, comments on developments

“It appears that the widespread criticism that has greeted Toshiba’s ill conceived ‘National No Print Day’ has taken the company by surprise. For an organisation with an invested interest in print to advocate ‘no print’ is clearly ill advised but to pretend to be on some sort of a mission to save trees and therefore the environment is just nonsense from an organisation which makes products with their own significant environmental footprint.

Toshiba’s decision to pull the campaign is the result of the huge and negative reaction from around the world.

Print is often the target of modern Marketing Greenwash. ‘Get you bills on line and do your bit for the environment’; ‘Think about the environment before you print’; ‘Save £’s and trees with paper free billing’, are all examples of challengeable marketing which, without supporting and detailed evidence, is just Greenwash.

Other Heads of Marketing may now be observing the backlash aimed at Toshiba; the wasted resources in a campaign that was pulled soon after launch; the embarrassment and perhaps shortened careers of those who came up with this daft initiative. They may now think twice before using the environmental argument in promoting their own organisations’ products or services.

Print may well now benefit from Toshiba’s hard earned lesson.

There are numerous less well known, but equally misguided, companies out there aiming Greenwash at the print and paper industries. When you see them, let Two Sides know!”