Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated both of which were Not upheld.
Ad description
A website, www.smithsofficefurniture.net, featured text on the "About us" page that stated "Smith's Office Furniture - About Us Smith's Office & Commercial Furniture Ltd Established in 1982, supplying mainly used office furniture into the predominately engineering based companies of the West Midlands, goes to show that our company has been built on a solid foundation of experience and longevity".
On the "Policies" page was a link to a PDF document titled "SOCF environmental policy statement", which featured text that stated "SOCF is committed to being a leader in minimising our impact on our environment. This is an ongoing commitment and will cover every aspect of our operations. Embrace and fully support the Nottingham declaration on climate change [sic] Minimise waste by consistently evaluating our activities and ensuring they are as efficient as possible [sic] Minimise toxic/greenhouse gas emissions through by selecting the greenest transport options [sic] Champion recycling both internally and amongst our customers and suppliers. Deal wherever possible only with businesses whose products have been produced and distributed using methods and materials that minimise any environmental impact. Seek to exceed all the environmental legislation that relates to our company and business ... Seek to use an accredited programme to offset the greenhouse gas emissions generated by our activities ...".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether:
1. the claim "Smith's Office & Commercial Furniture Ltd Established in 1982" was misleading and could be substantiated; and
2. the claims made in the "SOCF environmental policy statement" were misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
1. Smiths Office & Commercial Furniture Ltd stated that the company was established as a home business by a sole trader in 1982. Shortly thereafter, the company moved to a rented unit and was renamed Smiths Office & Commercial Furniture and as it grew, moved to various other premises. In 1990, the business became a partnership and started to sell new and used furniture and in 2003, became a "Limited" company. Smiths Office & Commercial Furniture acknowledged that they made an error in naming their company as "Ltd" on their website, which they had now amended accordingly.
2. Smiths Office & Commercial Furniture stated that their environmental policy supported the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change and that all their waste was dealt with according to environmental friendly standards. They stated that they used a "Talbot T150" hand-fed wood burner facility, which was clean air certified, for heating their premises and referred to an email sent from the manufacturer that listed the device's environmental benefits. They stated that they chopped up and burned any unsalable used furniture and pallets in the Talbot T150 and believed that this method of destroying wood was environmentally friendly, as it: minimised the amount of waste wood sent to landfill; reduced the number of vehicles going to landfill; utilised a fuel which was carbon neutral; and minimised the use of fossil fuels such as oil and gas. Smiths Office & Commercial Furniture further stated that they recycled all other materials using a third party's waste management services and that their cardboard was taken to their local recycling centre.
Smiths Office & Commercial Furniture stated that one of their suppliers was based in Liverpool and that they were one of the leading manufacturers of office furniture in the UK who delivered to their store twice a week. Furthermore, they stated that their oldest company vehicle was two years old and, as far they as they could be sure, that they only bought products from companies who also supported the environment.
Assessment
1. Not upheld
The ASA understood that the advertiser initially operated as a sole trader and over a number of years incorporated as a partnership and then a limited company. We considered that the claim "Smith's Office & Commercial Furniture Ltd Established in 1982" would be regarded as a claim that the business had been trading continuously since 1982. While we acknowledged that the legal character of the business and trading premises had changed throughout the company's history, we considered that it had been continuously trading throughout those changes. We therefore concluded that the claim had been substantiated and was not misleading.
We investigated the claim under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading Advertising) and 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation), but did not find it in breach.
2. Not upheld
We considered that Smiths Office & Commercial Furniture's environmental policy was a statement that set out their aspiration of operating as an environmentally friendly company, rather than making objective environmental claims that required a high level of substantiation. We noted that the statement described Smiths Office & Commercial Furniture's environmental ambitions using references such as "This is an ongoing commitment", "Minimise", "Champion recycling" "wherever possible" and "Seek to exceed".
We understood that Smiths Office & Commercial Furniture heated their premises using a wood waste heating device, which burned any unsalable used furniture and pallets. We noted from the manufacturer's email that the appliance was specifically designed to utilise waste wood material and convert it into energy for heating and had listed the associated environmental benefits, which Smiths Office & Commercial Furniture had identified in their response. We considered that while this method of heating did emit atmospheric pollutants, it could be viewed as less wasteful and consequentially, have less of a negative impact on the environment compared to oil or gas heating. Furthermore, we acknowledged that Smiths Office & Commercial Furniture recycled all other materials using a third party's waste management services and that their cardboard was taken to their local recycling centre.
We considered that the environmental measures taken by Smiths Office & Commercial Furniture demonstrated that they were trying to have a positive impact on the environment, as set out in their "SOCF environmental policy statement" and therefore, we concluded that the claims had been substantiated and were not misleading.
We investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading Advertising), 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation), 11.1 11.1 The basis of environmental claims must be clear. Unqualified claims could mislead if they omit significant information. and 11.3 11.3 Absolute claims must be supported by a high level of substantiation. Comparative claims such as "greener" or "friendlier" can be justified, for example, if the advertised product provides a total environmental benefit over that of the marketer's previous product or competitor products and the basis of the comparison is clear. (Environmental Claims), but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
