Ad description
Claims on www.nissan.co.uk/leaf, seen 22 June 2011, included a vertical link on the left hand side of the page which stated "Zero emission by Nissan" and stated "Download e-brochure", which provided a link to a brochure for download, promoting the Electric Nissan LEAF car. On the last page, under the heading, "Specifications" the ad included an image of a car and stated "The new air. No tailpipe, no emissions. The all-electric Nissan LEAF doesn't produce one gram of CO2 whilst driving".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the website was misleading, because it implied that no emissions would be produced from the vehicle, although emissions would be produced in the generation of the electricity used to power the vehicle, and the "Zero emissions" claim was therefore only valid while driving.
Response
Nissan Motor (GB) Ltd provided their response via their solicitors.
They said the vertical link which stated "Zero emission by Nissan" would be understood by consumers as a stylised branding device, rather than a factual claim, and would therefore not be relied on in itself as to relate to the nature of the attributes of the car and would therefore not materially mislead.
They did not believe that the website's claims would mislead an average consumer, who was reasonably well informed, reasonably observant and circumspect. They felt that the average consumer would understand the claim, in the context of the website in which it appeared, to mean that the Nissan LEAF itself produced no emissions when in use. They said consumers would understand that an electric car ran on electricity and therefore 'zero emission/s vehicles' referred to the fact that the car produced no emissions when driving, unlike petrol/diesel/hybrid engines. They felt it was a widely-known fact that a proportion of the electricity in the national grid was produced from coal-fired power stations and the production of that electricity would produce CO2 and other emissions, and therefore, in light of that knowledge, an average consumer would not understand 'zero emission/s' to mean that no emissions would be produced in the generation of the electricity used to power the vehicle, although they noted that that could be the case if that consumer had chosen a renewable energy tariff. They said the claim expressly referred to "tailpipe" emissions and that the LEAF did not produce any CO2 'whilst driving'.
They said that 'zero emission/s vehicle/s' was regularly used by other car manufacturers, local and central government and the media to mean that there were no emissions by the vehicle when in use. They provided a number of press articles which employed the term, and added that a Google search for the term 'zero emission vehicle definition' returned various definitions which interpreted 'zero emission' as meaning 'zero tailpipe emissions'. They felt that that was the type of search a consumer might carry out, if they were uncertain about the meaning of 'zero emission/s'.
They said the Nissan website provided background information about electric cars and the claims were included in the 'Electric Vehicles' section of the website, which meant that any consumer reading the claims would have searched specifically for electric vehicles or would have navigated their way to that section of the website, which they felt should be taken to mean they were likely to be more knowledgeable that the average consumer about issues relating to electric cars.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA noted that claim "zero emission" appeared vertically on the main website page and considered that the claim in that context would be understood as a factual marketing claim about the vehicle. We also noted that the same claim headed the downloadable brochure. We considered that the brochure was designed to provide detail and information about the Nissan LEAF vehicle and that consumers would be likely to download the brochure and consider the content. We noted the brochure stated that the Nissan LEAF was "100% Electric" and that the "Specifications" section stated "the new air. No tailpipe, no emissions. The all-electric Nissan LEAF doesn't produce one gram of CO2 whilst driving". We considered that that information made clear that the Nissan LEAF did not produce emissions while driving and that consumers would understand the claim was referring to the specific context of the vehicle when in use, and did not include emissions produced by the generation of the electricity used to power the vehicle.
Because we noted that the website stated "The all-electric Nissan LEAF doesn't produce one gram of CO2 whilst driving", we considered that it made clear that the "zero emission" and "no emissions" claims referred to the car in use and "whilst driving" and therefore concluded that the website's claims did not mislead.
We investigated the claims under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising),
11.1
11.1
The basis of environmental claims must be clear. Unqualified claims could mislead if they omit significant information.
and
11.4
11.4
Marketers must base environmental claims on the full life cycle of the advertised product, unless the marketing communication states otherwise, and must make clear the limits of the life cycle. If a general claim cannot be justified, a more limited claim about specific aspects of a product might be justifiable. Marketers must ensure claims that are based on only part of the advertised product's life cycle do not mislead consumers about the product's total environmental impact.
(Environmental claims), but did not find them in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
