In today’s business landscape, a strong corporate purpose is often touted as essential to long-term success. Companies across sectors are defining their reason for existing beyond profit—embracing sustainability, social equity, and community impact. But as the pressure to be “purpose-driven” mounts, a troubling pattern has emerged: businesses unintentionally slipping into greenwashing, not out of deceit, but due to a poor understanding or implementation of their stated purpose.
While greenwashing is typically associated with deliberate misrepresentation of environmental or social responsibility, a more subtle, yet equally damaging form exists—unintentional greenwashing. This occurs when companies genuinely want to do good but fail to align their rhetoric with reality, leading to public skepticism, reputational harm, and ethical contradictions.
The Purpose-Greenwashing Gap
Corporate purpose should act as a company’s ethical and strategic compass. But too often, it becomes a branding tool disconnected from actual practices. When this happens, even sincere efforts can backfire.
Take H&M’s “Conscious Collection”, for example. The fashion giant launched the line as part of its commitment to more sustainable practices. It featured clothing made from recycled or organic materials, marketed with green visuals and eco-friendly language. However, watchdogs and consumer advocacy groups criticized the campaign for lacking transparency and offering little differentiation from their standard collections. A 2022 investigation revealed that many of the items marked as “Conscious” used generic or unverifiable claims, and the overall environmental impact of the line was unclear. In short, a well-intended initiative was seen as misleading—a classic case of unintentional greenwashing.
Several common missteps contribute to this phenomenon:
- Superficial understanding of purpose: Companies often define purpose in vague terms—“doing good” or “being sustainable”—without clear parameters or KPIs.
- Siloed strategies: Marketing teams may run ahead with bold claims while operations, supply chain, and governance lag behind.
- Pressure to appear ESG-friendly: In a competitive market, companies feel compelled to showcase progress, even when they’re still laying the foundation.
An illustrative example is Coca-Cola Europacific Partners France, which launched a campaign to promote its “sustainable” practices, including bottle collection and recycling initiatives. While the company claimed significant strides in environmental responsibility, France’s consumer watchdog agency charged it in 2023 for misleading environmental claims. Critics pointed out that Coca-Cola remained one of the top plastic polluters, and its recycling messaging downplayed the impact of its production model. The company may have genuinely invested in sustainability efforts, but the disconnect between its messaging and its overall plastic footprint turned good intentions into reputational risk.
The Ethical Implications
Even if greenwashing is unintentional, the ethical damage is real. Purpose implies integrity—it signals a company’s commitment to values that benefit stakeholders beyond shareholders. When actions fall short, companies risk violating the trust of consumers, employees, and investors.
The case of Volkswagen (VW), while involving deliberate deception, serves as a powerful warning. VW had marketed its diesel vehicles as environmentally friendly—emphasizing performance and low emissions. Meanwhile, the company had installed defeat devices to cheat emissions tests. Although this was clearly a case of intentional greenwashing, it highlights how purpose and branding can be completely at odds with internal practices. VW had promoted itself as an innovator in clean technology, but its actions told another story. The fallout included billions in fines, executive firings, and long-term damage to its reputation.
Even companies that do not act as brazenly as VW can find themselves on a similar slippery slope if they don’t critically assess the gap between purpose and practice.
From Rhetoric to Results: Embedding Purpose Through Shared Value
Avoiding the pitfalls of unintentional greenwashing requires more than good intentions—it demands a systematic approach to purpose, grounded in both ethics and strategy. That’s where Creating Shared Value (CSV) becomes indispensable.
Creating Shared Value is a strategic framework that enables companies to pursue economic success by addressing social and environmental challenges. Rather than treating purpose as a standalone mission statement, CSV ensures that purpose is integrated into core operations, products, and partnerships, delivering measurable impact for both the business and society.
This is where I assist organizations: helping them translate their vision into authentic, implementable strategies that prevent reputational risks and build long-term stakeholder trust. My consulting services are tailored to support companies in:
- Defining a clear, actionable corporate purpose
- Identifying shared value opportunities across the value chain
- Aligning internal teams and leadership around purpose delivery
- Developing measurable metrics to track social and business impact
- Avoiding unintentional greenwashing through purpose audits and ethical framing
A Call to Purpose-Driven Leadership
Greenwashing doesn’t always stem from malice. Sometimes, it’s the unintended result of ambition unmoored from capability—of a purpose statement that inspires, but doesn’t instruct. For companies committed to ethical and sustainable business, the solution lies in deep integration of purpose into practice, with honesty about progress and humility about limitations.
Purpose is more than a slogan—it is a promise. And in the era of conscious capitalism, it is a promise that must be kept with rigor, transparency, and sincerity.
If your organization is ready to move beyond purpose rhetoric and into purpose-aligned performance, I’d be glad to support your journey.