The Top 10 Green Brands

Green Wombat is traveling today but I've got a layover in London and this bit of click bait popped up on the BlackBerry as I deplaned. According to a survey conducted by advertising conglomerate WPP, United States and U.K. consumers perceive the following to be the top 10 "green brands":

• Whole Foods   
• Wild Oats   
• Trader Joe's   
• Toyota 
• Honda   
• Sub Zero   
• Ikea   
• Body Shop
• GE
• Aveda 

The results are based on 1,504 online interviews in the U.S. and 1,525 interviews in the U.K. According to the WPP subsidiaries that conducted the survey, ''respondents were screened to meet the following criteria: Age 18 or over, gender, age, and region was weighted based on U.S. and U.K. census information, respondents rated only the brands that they were familiar with.''

Given that it's the middle of the night in the U.S. as Green Wombat writes, further details of the survey's methodology aren't available at the moment - such as the precise questions asked, why consumers think these companies are eco-friendly, the statistical margin of error and whether any of these green brands are WPP clients.  It's a curious list: No surprise that Whole Foods (WFMI)  - which is acquiring No. 2 green brand Wild Oats - Toyota (TM),  Honda (HMC)  and the Body Shop made the list. But high-end appliance maker Sub Zero?  And GE's (GE) ecomagination" campaign appears to be paying off.

"No longer can corporations just say they offer fuel-efficient vehicles, organic foods or energy-efficient products – it is now a cost of entry in many industries and corporations need to begin thinking ahead," according to WPP. "Corporations must consider the next level of greenness such as ensuring their overall business practices are sustainable and that the greenness at the supermarket or car dealership represents greenness in bringing the item to market." The survey found that the typical greenie in the U.S. tends to be a younger woman who earns about $50k. Her British counterpart, on the other hands, is more likely to be older, male and highly educated.