Filed under: Macbook Pro, MacBook
Dell cites Apple's 'green' claims in Better Business Bureau complaint
In a display of environmental posturing on both sides, Dell lodged a complaint with the advertising industry's self-governing oversight board: The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (NAD). The claim? When Apple says it has the "world's greenest family of notebooks," family could be taken to mean all models of MacBook past and present -- including models that weren't built with the environment in mind.
"Common industry usage of 'family' refers to a particular model or group of models, and not the entire notebook line," argued Dell, according to a post on the New York Times' "Green Inc." blog. Dell also complained about Apple's use of gold EPEAT ratings -- an award that many of Apple's competitors have also earned.
Standing behind their claim, Apple effectively said, "that's right, deal with it": Family, in the context of the ad "refers to its whole line of notebooks, taken in toto, [and] not a particular model or group."
The NAD said there was no problem with Apple communicating its EPEAT ratings to consumers, and commended the company for its commitment to creating an entire line of notebooks that meet the highest EPEAT ratings, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Even so, the NAD suggested that consumers could believe that "family" means a line of products (and not all the products) that a company makes. They recommended that Apple use direct comparisons between MacBooks and competitor notebooks to clarify their claims of environmental friendliness. They also recommended that Apple avoid the use of world's greenest "given the potential for overstatement." Apple? Overstatement? That's unpossible.
Apple was happy with the conclusion, with PR spokesman Steve Dowling telling the New York Times that the NAD had confirmed that MacBooks are indeed the world's greenest notebooks when compared to other manufacturers' entire product lines. It appears that Apple has taken to using the word "lineup" instead of "family" on its website.
Dell issued a statement, saying they "commend the NAD for their part in helping ensure companies represent their products' environmental attributes accurately." Dell has previously lodged advertising complaints against Lenovo, and last year the company had to stop using the slogan "the world's most secure notebooks."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Chedstone said 11:16AM on 6-19-2009
I want that bullshit job.
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Cameron Talley said 11:18AM on 6-19-2009
Yet another reason to dislike Dell. Have they seriously resorted to moaning about semantics? How ridiculous! Dell comes across as the whining child that doesn't get his way.
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Howie Isaacks said 11:32AM on 6-19-2009
Dell's stocks are in the crapper along with their shoddy line of products. They have a lot to worry about right now. If I were a Dell exec, the last thing that I would be proud of is high volume sales to large companies who just want the cheapest price on throw away hardware. Apple can be proud that their selling great computers to people who will show them loyalty over the long run.
Tre (formerly known as digitaltre) said 11:44AM on 6-19-2009
Well, I don't blame them for being whiny. Their computers suck. I do blame them for trying to call Apple out though. That's just being straight up Stuart from MadTV. (Look him up on YouTube and you'll get the joke)
shaunisadirty said 11:20AM on 6-19-2009
Apple's advertising is borderline false advertising. They make claims with no credible evidence to back it up. Everything is 2x this and 190287343x faster than that, but they only show a chart that gives no actual evidence or explains anything. Just a bar graph to make consumers think it's good.
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Howie Isaacks said 11:29AM on 6-19-2009
A chart isn't going to be any more convincing. I can make a chart that shows that Macs are better than PCs, but does that mean that my point is true? Apple stretches reality a bit, but who doesn't? In the end, if the consumer doesn't do research, and test drive the product, it his/her/its own damned fault for not getting what was advertised.
ipodrulz said 5:30PM on 6-19-2009
Apple only does that to make statistics easier to understand for the average consumer.
mabhatter said 1:38AM on 6-23-2009
But the ad calls out meeting a specific spec. That all the Mac notebooks for sale as of right now meet the 5 star rating. That's pretty clear cut and easy to backup. As far as "greenest" again if they watched the keynote, Apple pointed out how they use recyclable aluminum and glass, how they've reduced or eliminated Arsenic glass and PVC wiring. Those are small, expensive things compared to what Dell does, but add up to lots of toxic material not going to consumers in millions of PCs. Apple has just 4 notebook "chassis" to update every 6 months versus the dozen or so Dell has making the job much easier.
Dell is crying because for other companies only certain models meet the "gold" requirements and not the whole years lineup. They really don't like Apple advertising that ANY notebook in their store right now, is really "green"... you don't have to buy a special "greener" model. That's why Mac notebooks start at $999 and not $399.. so Apple has bucks to toss out old lines and not recycle old, inefficient hardware as "new" for years.
Phillip Dudas said 11:25AM on 6-19-2009
So when Dell complains When Apple says it has the "world's greenest family of notebooks," and then says "Common industry usage of 'family' refers to a particular model or group of models, and not the entire notebook line,"....
I don't see the problem.. Their notebook I believe is all one line as well as a group of models. They are all MacBooks. If Apple wanted to, they could say that all their notebooks combined had a greater green tint than the others. Is that what dell wants? If Apple changes it's wording to suit Dell and the NAD, that would mean customers would have a greater understanding that ALL of Apple's notebooks are greener in comparison to the rest. Just my opinion.
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Mark said 11:25AM on 6-19-2009
This is a bad sign for Dell and horrible PR. I don't know what they thought they were gonna get out of it, but apparently not a hell of a lot of good and probably a fair amount of ridicule.
It kinda hurts to see a once cocky on-top-of-the-world-ma company fall so.
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Howie Isaacks said 11:27AM on 6-19-2009
Dell's consumer products are crap.
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Tre (formerly known as digitaltre) said 12:00PM on 6-19-2009
True dat. +1 for Howie.
Johnny said 11:30AM on 6-19-2009
"They recommended that Apple use direct comparisons between MacBooks and competitor notebooks to clarify their claims of environmental friendliness. "
I like how NAD basically tells them, 'Hey, while you're at it... Why don't you take a stab at Dell (and other competitors) in your commercials".
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Galley said 11:35AM on 6-19-2009
Dear Dell, suck it!
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Chris said 1:10PM on 6-19-2009
Memo to Dell... If you don't like Apple's advertising then fight back with a marketing campaign of your own. That's what microsoft is doing "I'm a PC", "Laptop Hunters"!
How about you go back to your druggy with the "Dude, Your getting a Dell" campaign! Great job with that one, BTW.
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Tacktful said 1:20PM on 6-19-2009
@ johnny - exactly! Hilarious! Makes dell's response to nad's outcome painful
@ galley - lol
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nittany4 said 2:14PM on 6-19-2009
maybe they should shut the company down and give the money back to the shareholders
dude, your computer sucks
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djfred said 2:59PM on 6-19-2009
Dell might want to watch it's step here. The fix, clarifying that every notebook Apple manufactures is up to the latest environmental standards as opposed to offering a few green boutique models here and there, makes them sound a lot worse than the the current ads do.
Consumers are pretty good at ignoring generalized claims like "greenest" and "best of" as so much marketing hoohah, but the believability factor increases exponentially when you start adding specifics. notebook
Since the specifics in this case are that Apple has a real, full-time commitment to environmentalism throughout it's entire line of notebooks and Dell doesn't, Apple would win on both merit and perception.
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lee said 4:34PM on 6-19-2009
Who cares !!!!
Computers are tools, does Dell really think they are losing sales because Apple greener notebooks ? Give me a break.
This is as pathetic as Microsoft's latest attempts at turning trying to turn a turd into a rose.
By the way my hammer is greener than yours. :)
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TEG said 4:50PM on 6-19-2009
Well, for the most part, Apple is correct. Dell (and most other compter makers) make their computers out of Plastic. Plastic, while recycleable in many cases, changes form each time, and can only be recycled a certain number of times, whereas the Aluminum and Glass in most Apple products, and be recycled a greater number of times, if not ad infinitum.
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