ASA Adjudication on RND Engineering Ltd

Ad

A leaflet, for A9 Technology car lubrication, stated "TECHNOLOGIE A9 TECHNOLOGY It's what we've been waiting for But don't just take our word for it". On the reverse of the leaflet, under the heading "The Effects", text stated "Economies: In addition to ecological characteristics, A9 TECHNOLOGY brings about important savings for the user. It reduces fuel consumption by 5-10% in town driving and reduces oil topping-up by 70-100% Anti-Pollution: A9 significantly reduces toxic exhaust emissions. For petrol engines, CO emissions are reduced by 77% at idle speed & by 20-30% in town driving ...".

Issue

Lincolnshire Trading Standards challenged the claims:

1. that A9 Technology reduced fuel consumption by 5-10% in town driving and

2. that it reduced petrol engine CO emissions by 77% at idle speed and by 20-30% in town driving.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. & 2.

RND Engineering (RND) said they had now sold A9 Technology to another company.  They said the product had been on sale in the UK for nearly ten years and was available around the world.  They said they had received no complaints about A9 Technology during the time they sold it.  They sent the ASA some sample test data and testimonials from satisfied customers, which they believed supported the claims in the leaflet.

Assessment

1. & 2. Upheld

The ASA noted RND had sold A9 Technology during our investigation and the leaflet would therefore no longer be distributed.

We noted the sample test data but considered that, because it was incomplete, it was insufficient to substantiate the claims in the leaflet.  We asked to see the full test data, which RND promised to send when they received it from France, but they failed to provide it.  We considered that RND had not provided robust evidence to substantiate the claims that A9 Technology reduced fuel consumption by 5-10% in town driving and reduced petrol engine CO emissions by 77% at idle speed and 20-30% in town driving.  We concluded that, because RND had not substantiated the claims, the leaflet was misleading.

The leaflet breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), and 49.1 and 49.3 (Environmental claims).

Action

We noted the leaflet would no longer be distributed because ownership of A9 Technology had changed hands.  However, we reminded RND that the CAP Code required advertisers to hold substantiation for their claims prior to publication and substantiation should be sent without delay if requested by the ASA.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)