Background
Two points were investigated and resolved informally with the advertiser’s agreement to make changes.
Substantiation challenges were raised against the claims:
1. “If the carbon (soot) is not removed regularly, breakdowns will occur, which will result in extremely high repair costs.”
2. “FlexFuel® de-scaling by hydrogen injection allows not only the unclogging of your engine, but also parts such as the Particulate Filter, turbocharger, EGR valve or even the injection system.”
On point, 1, the claim was amended to, “Where Carbon build (soot) is not cleaned/removed, it could lead to costly repair or replacement of parts.”
Claim two was amended to, “FlexFuel® de-scaling by hydrogen injection allows not only the unclogging of your engine, but also parts such as the Diesel Particulate Filter, turbocharger and EGR.”
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A website, https://www.flexfuel-company.co.uk, for FlexFuel, a company that produced hydrogen injection equipment to carbon clean engines:
The homepage included text that stated, “Is your vehicle clogged up? Consider carbon cleaning. Black smoke, dashboard lights on, lags in acceleration … In over 75% of cases, the culprit is clogging of your engine due to carbon build up”, “54% reduction in harmful emissions Hy-Carbon deep-cleans engines by injecting hydrogen into the air intake” and “15% reduction in your consumption. Your engine will return to its original factory performance! Ideal for reducing your fuel consumption.”
The FAQ page included text that stated, “Say goodbye to failing your MOT Check on emissions! By regaining its original performance, your vehicle will emit 50% less CO2 at least!”, “Almost three-quarters of the faults that occur with the engines are caused by carbon deposits”, “Say goodbye to hard starting engine, high fuel consumption, low engine performance, dashboard lights, black smoke and sluggish acceleration. Thanks to carbon cleaning, your vehicle will regain its original performance” and “FlexFuel® de-scaling by hydrogen injection allows not only the unclogging of your engine, but also parts such as the Particulate Filter, turbocharger, EGR valve or even the injection system”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the following claims were misleading and could be substantiated:
1. “54% reduction in harmful emissions” and “15% reduction in your consumption”, and
2. “Say goodbye to hard starting engine, high fuel consumption, low engine performance, dashboard lights, black smoke and sluggish acceleration. Thanks to carbon cleaning, your vehicle will regain its original performance”.
Response
1. FlexFuel provided MOT exhaust emission test results for four diesel cars and one petrol, showing the cars initially failing and then passing. FlexFuel said this was as a result of using their product. They said the diesel MOT exhaust emission test results detected smoke and explained that their product could only eliminate or reduce black smoke, as this was a symptom of carbon build up. Any blue smoke was attributed to oil, and white smoke was caused by mechanical water head gasket, etc. Therefore, the emission reports showed a large reduction in smoke and evidenced that their product had eliminated harmful gasses.
FlexFuel submitted a gas analysis report for a Golf VII car, before and after a hydrogen carbon clean, conducted by UTAC CERAM. They also provided a FlexFuel emissions presentation which showed the reduction of harmful emissions in a number of light, light-duty and heavy vehicles.
FlexFuel further submitted two Facebook video testimonies. The first showed a garage owner explaining that his mechanic obtained a 10 miles per gallon (MPG) improvement for an Audi A3 1.9 Diesel after using FlexFuel’s product. Flexfuel said that the improvement of 10 MPG was an 18% increase, as the total MPG for this vehicle in the UK was 55MPG. A second Facebook video was provided that showed another garage owner, and a customer, testifying to smoother engine performance, better acceleration, removal of sluggish engine and improved fuel economy after using the product.
FlexFuel agreed to amend the claims to “up to 54% reduction in harmful emissions” and “reduction in consumption”.
2. FlexFuel provided ten “Hy-Carbon connect intervention reports”, all for different vehicles and produced at various customer garages in the UK. They said the reports showed where car fault codes were present before treatment and rectified after using FlexFuel treatments. FlexFuel explained that, unlike diagnostics tools used in garages where they had the capability to turn off fault codes simply by clearing them, the Hy-Carbon Connect station could only read live, present fault codes. The intervention reports provided therefore were exact evidence of the vehicle computer faults before and after treatment. Where no fault codes were present after the treatment, it evidenced their product successfully cleaned car parts that caused live fault codes on the vehicle computer system.
FlexFuel provided three Facebook video testimonies from independent garage owners. Two of the videos were the same as submitted for Point 1. The third video showed a garage owner demonstrating the FlexFuel product and confirming that after using the product, vehicles ran smoother and regained performance. Flexfuel confirmed that all garage owners and customer names were available and contactable. One further video submitted showed FlexFuel visit TV presenter Edd China and use the treatment on his Range Rover. The video showed the car initially emitting a large amount of black smoke that was significantly reduced by the end of the two-hour treatment.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The CAP Code stated, 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 noted that the MOT exhaust emission test results referred to five different cars tested in 2018 and 2019 and showed an initial MOT failure and then later in the same day an MOT pass. The four diesel tests, tested for smoke levels and the petrol test tested for specific gases and hydrocarbons. The petrol result showed a reduction in hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide and the diesel results showed lower smoke levels. We noted however that the results did not demonstrate whether the FlexFuel product was used before the cars passed the test or whether the reduction in gas and smoke levels resulted directly from the use of FlexFuel. In addition, we considered that five test results was an insufficient sample to support the claim that the product generally reduced harmful emissions or indicate by what proportion.
Regarding the gas analysis report conducted by UTAC CERAM, it showed the reduction in harmful gasses on a Golf VII. While we noted the independent testing, as it demonstrated an effect on only one car and after one test, we were unable to conclude that the results could be applied more widely to all vehicles. It was not, therefore, sufficient to substantiate the claim that the product reduced harmful emissions or by what proportion.
We acknowledged the two video testimonials provided by FlexFuel, and that one from a garage owner was very complimentary about the effects of FlexFuel. Another said that their car had seen a 10 MPG improvement after using the FlexFuel product. We considered, however, that while they were useful in providing an opinion and demonstrating those individual’s satisfaction with the product, the testimonials alone did not constitute adequate substantiation for the objective claims made, including the claim that the product could cause a “15% reduction in your consumption”.
We therefore concluded that the claims, in the absence of sufficient evidence, had not been substantiated and were likely to mislead.
On that point the ad breached 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) and 3.11 3.11 Marketing communications must not mislead consumers by exaggerating the capability or performance of a product. (Exaggeration).
2. Upheld
The ASA acknowledged the Hy-Carbon connect intervention reports provided by FlexFuel and noted their comments that they had no capability to turn off fault codes and therefore the reports accurately reported the resolution of fault codes after using their product. However, the reports were FlexFuel’s own records, not independent tests and therefore the process had not been verified by an independent third party. It was not, therefore, sufficient to substantiate the claim that the product could resolve dashboard lights.
While we acknowledged the three video testimonials provided by FlexFuel, we considered that testimonials alone did not constitute adequate substantiation for the objective claims made, that the product could assist with high fuel consumption, a hard starting engine, low engine performance, black smoke and sluggish acceleration or that it could help regain the original performance of the vehicle.
We therefore concluded that the claim, in the absence of sufficient evidence, had not been substantiated and was likely to mislead.
On this point the ad breached 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) and 3.11 3.11 Marketing communications must not mislead consumers by exaggerating the capability or performance of a product. (Exaggeration).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told FlexFuel to ensure that adequate evidence was held to support all objective claims.
