This study explores the notion of green-washing in the advertisements of five Fortune 500 companies and whether these advertisements are truthfully transparent of the companies’ environmental impact. Corporations and energy industries throughout the years have often utilized ""greenwashing"", or the use of marketing to portray an organization's products, activities or policies as environmentally friendly (in-text citation needed). To gain insight into the topic, this paper analyzes ""greenwashing"" marketing strategies used in 2017 advertising campaigns from five of the top ten Fortune 500 companies – Walmart, Apple, Exxon Mobil, General Motors and AT&T. This study then examines the companies’ environmental impact reports to better understand the transparency between the advertisements and the reported environmental data of these companies.
