A new holiday is here

Earth Day is not a new event, but it has been embraced by the retail industry the past few years in a way unlike any other holiday. Target promotes Earth Week, Walmart calls it Earth Month, while Office Depot and Lowe’s ads specifically mention Earth Day. Home Depot’s ad simply encourages customers to “save green, live green.” A similar strategy was employed at Best Buy, where the company didn’t call out Earth anything, but rather promoted its Energy Star products and the fact that it can recycle old televisions in store.

Whatever you call it, planet appreciation and preservation promotions have emerged as a new seasonal sales opportunity, and retailers are coming at it from all angles. Home Depot gave away CFL light bulbs, and to encourage gardening, not to mention sales of related products, also offered buy-one-get-one-free on plants. Office Depot gave $50 off HP, Brother, Epson and Lexmark printers to customers who brought in an old printer.

Target offered an assortment of eco-friendly products made of recycled materials, but the hook to its promotion revolved around a free reusable shopping bag with a coupon for $2 off a GE brand CFL. The bags were distributed by cashiers at the front end and the pharmacy.

Retailers should be commended for helping raise awareness of environmental concerns, but it appears they will be walking a fine line in the years ahead as they look to build sales around Earth-oriented promotions that encourage consumption of goods, especially if products featured in such promotions are deemed environmentally friendly simply because they are less detrimental than previous formulations or alternatives.