When we read the April email from Dealernews alerting us to the fact that, “Unless you live under a rock, you’re aware of the increasing awareness and need for all of us to find better ways to deliver the products we produce using fewer of our natural resources. The popular term for this is “Going Green”,’ we first assumed Advanstar would lead the industry in environmentally responsible publishing through such actions as certifying that paper was 100% recycled, all inks were soy based and no animals were harmed in lab testing. (And yes, we’re aware of the awareness. We saw the movie.)

Wrong. Instead we learned that all but the most recent – last 12 months to be exact – advertisers and agencies who receive the “complimentary subscription” were being given the heave ho. Dealers not included. How’s that for qualifying the herd? The practical side of how the circ list would be worked out is beyond our ability to comprehend, but suffice to say that as an agency required to pay $100 for the privilege of admission to Dealer Expo that badge should at the very least grant us some clemency. Hah!

Add this latest Advanstar gambit – transparently hypocritical in trying to cash in on the legit green movement yet leaving a Hulk sized carbon footprint as evidence – to what seems like a string of perhaps well intentioned yet seriously off course trip ups which simply serve to call into question overall corporate goals and vision.