ASA Adjudication on Toyota (GB) plc

Ad

A national press ad, for Toyota Prius with Hybrid Synergy Drive, featured a mock receipt entitled "Hybrid Synergy Drive". Under the heading "FUEL CHARGE", the receipt showed the price of "PETROL" was "40.00". Under the heading "ENERGY CHARGE", multiple entries for "BRAKE" showed the price was "0.00". Text below the receipt stated "Free energy available". Text at the bottom of the ad, under the heading "Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive: Charge while braking", stated "Why waste energy in today's world? Cars usually waste energy every time they brake. Hybrid Synergy Drive, on the other hand, captures that wasted energy and saves it to the battery to be used later ...".

Issue

One complainant challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that Hybrid Synergy Drive recovered all the energy from braking, whereas he believed only some of the energy was recovered.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Toyota pointed out that, prior to the ad's publication, they had sought guidance on the wording from the CAP Copy Advice team, who had told them it was unlikely the ad would present a breach of the CAP Code.

Toyota said it was factually correct that cars usually wasted energy every time they braked, and it was also factually correct that Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) recovered the energy from braking and converted it into electrical energy, which it stored in the high voltage battery.  They believed the complainant's view, that the ad implied HSD recovered all the energy from braking, was unlikely to be shared by most readers.  They pointed out that the ad did not use words or phrases such as '100%', 'entirely', 'totally' or 'all of' in the context of the recaptured energy.  They said the ad's intention was to give readers wider knowledge of the technology that was helping cars to become more efficient.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted Toyota's agency had approached the CAP Copy Advice team for advice on a very similar ad and were told it was likely to be acceptable under the Code.

We noted Toyota's argument that the ad did not claim that HSD recovered 100% of the energy from braking.   Although we understood only some of the energy was recovered, we considered readers were unlikely to infer from the ad that HSD recovered all the energy from braking.  We noted the ad accurately described how HSD captured wasted energy and saved it to the battery to be used later.  We concluded the ad was unlikely to mislead.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code clause 7.1 (Truthfulness) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)