ASA Adjudication on Waterboost

Ad

A magazine ad for a fuel saving device stated "HYDROGEN FUEL SAVER" in text running up the left-hand side of the ad. Body copy text stated "Make your car a Hydrogen Fuelled Hybrid ... More power for less fuel ... Reduces vehicle emissions ... Fits any vehicle ... Easy to install and maintain ... Just add water". Text presented as a quotation stated "We ran the system for 30k miles on a high mileage VW Golf with 154k on the clock and we were surprised with what we saw ..." and a quotation attributed to "D. Wells [VOSA approved Vehicle Examiner]" stated "Your vehicle will run smoother and quieter; have more power; run cooler and create less pollutants". Text at the bottom of the ad stated "water boost HYDROGEN FUEL SYSTEMS 'FURTHER AND FASTER FOR LONGER FOR LESS'".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the following claims were misleading and could be substantiated:

1. "More power for less fuel";

2. "Reduces vehicle emissions";

3. "Your vehicle will run smoother and quieter, have more power, run cooler and create less pollutants"; and

4. "Further and faster for longer for less".

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1., 2., 3. & 4. Waterboost explained that their product generated hydrogen and oxygen from water which, when fed into a petrol or diesel engine, caused that fuel to burn more efficiently. The lack of unburned fuel meant there were less pollutants and that unburned fuel and carbon was less likely to contaminate a car's oil. They said the car would run cooler because more of the energy produced was consumed by the car and less energy was wasted in over-heating the engine. Waterboost said the VW Golf test car, referred to in the ad, achieved over 60 mpg when fitted with the product, as opposed to 30 mpg without. They said hydrocarbon emissions had reduced from 1000 ppm to between 90 and 140 ppm, with practically no carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, and that emissions for a diesel engine could improve by almost 80%. Waterboost provided a copy of a magazine article about the product, which they said showed Mr D. Wells fitting the product to his own car, and an unsourced document describing the product and its effects, as well as links to ongoing research into hydrogen technology and a website for those interested in hydrogen-oxygen fuel.

Assessment

1., 2. & 4. Upheld

The ASA noted the information provided by Waterboost. However we also noted that we had not seen any evidence, such as test data, that demonstrated that the product would make a vehicle more fuel efficient or reduce harmful emissions. We noted that the magazine article described the product and how to fit it to a car, as well as the author's experience of being driven in the test car, which we understood belonged to Waterboost. We did not consider, however, that the article was sufficient to support the efficacy claims made in the ad, and we therefore concluded that they were misleading.

On points (1), (2) and (4) the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 48.6 (Motoring) and 49.1 (Environmental claims).

3. Upheld

The ASA noted that the claim was attributed to "D. Wells [VOSA approved examiner]", although we also noted that we had not seen evidence that the quotation was from Mr Wells or that he was the mechanic pictured in the article. Notwithstanding that, we considered that the testimonial alone was not sufficient to substantiate the claim, and because we had not seen independent evidence that the product would enable a car to "run smoother and quieter, have more power, run cooler and create less pollutants", we concluded that the claim was misleading.

On this point the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 14.3 (Testimonials), 48.6 (Motoring) and 49.1 (Environmental claims).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)