To mark Earth Day (22 April), we’ve summed up the key principles for the responsible environmental claims.
Absolute claims must be fully substantiated
One issue that the ASA has encountered in recent years is absolute claims such as “eco-friendly” or “green”. The ASA is likely to uphold complaints about claims such as these when they’re not supported by robust substantiation.
A 2022 ruling on green claims in ads for plastic water bottles made clear that “eco-friendly” is an absolute claim that must be accompanied by a ‘life-cycle analysis of the product, demonstrating no harm to the planet – from manufacture to disposal’. Advertisers should take care here, and remember the same considerations can apply to products and services with less obvious environmental links, such as electric scooter hire.
Ensure the basis of the claim is clear
Advertisers should make sure any environmental claims have a basis that is clear to consumers, taking care to avoid ambiguous, confusing, or overly technical claims.
This 2024 ruling examined whether the claim “Zero Emissions Cars” was misleading. While the advertiser intended for the claim to be understood as a reference to the vehicle when driven, the complaint was upheld as the basis of the claim was not explained.
Social responsibility
The ASA has published several rulings on social responsibility in relation to environmental issues. Complaints that a Jaguar Land Rover ad that showed a car in a forest could encourage or condone environmentally detrimental behaviour were not upheld. The ASA concluded that the vehicle depicted in the ad was not being used irresponsibly.
But complaints about ads for Toyota were upheld after the ASA concluded that the ads, which included scenes of driving off road and across natural ecosystems condoned the use of vehicles in a manner that disregarded their impact on nature and the environment.
The ASA upheld complaints about HSBC ads which focused on environmentally positive projects, ruling that the impression they gave was misleading because they omitted information about the bank’s carbon emission contributions, as well as ads for airlines which were ruled to mislead about the environmental impact of air travel.
For any further guidance required, our Copy Advice team is on hand to provide bespoke advice.
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