Shoe retailer Deichmann guilty of greenwashing

Deichmann, one of Europe’s largest shoe retailers, has been convicted in Germany for making false advertising claims about the sustainability of shoes that offer no environmental benefits over competitors’ products.

“Customers were misled”

The German environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) has won a court case against Deichmann for greenwashing. The shoe retailer had advertised more than a thousand products as “sustainable” without substantiating that sustainability claim. During the proceedings, DUH was able to demonstrate that the advertised shoes offer no environmental benefits compared to competing products. The Bochum court agreed.

“The shoe retailer is playing with its green image without saying what ‘sustainability’ actually means. Anyone who advertises with empty environmental promises is misleading customers—and that is simply illegal. The fact that the company has since quietly removed the term speaks volumes. This ruling sends a clear signal: anyone who promises sustainability must also demonstrate it—anything else is greenwashing,” responds Jürgen Resch, federal director of the DUH in a press release.