Ad description
A paid-for LinkedIn ad for Shell Energy, seen on 22 April 2025, featured a video containing imagery of the sun and solar energy. On-screen text stated, “What connects the Italian sun with bright engineering ideas? Our work with Baker Hughes to help meet their energy needs and decarbonise operations. Discover more at shell.com/progresstogether. Progress together”.
A caption stated, “Discover the progress we’re making together with Baker Hughes to help reduce their emissions and decarbonise their operations in Italy. Progress happens together".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad gave a misleading impression of the overall environmental impact of Shell’s business activities.
Response
Shell Energy UK Ltd t/a Shell Energy explained that they only provided business-to-business (B2B) services. They offered a range of business energy solutions designed to help companies manage their energy needs, boost efficiency and control costs while navigating the complex decarbonisation landscape. The ad highlighted the support they had given to a corporate client, Baker Hughes (a global energy technology company), to help them with their energy needs and the decarbonisation of their operations. The ad linked to a landing page which contained further information about their work with Baker Hughes and other corporate customers.
Shell Energy said the emphasis of the ad was on progress and helping the featured client with their energy needs and the decarbonisation of their operations. The claims in the ad would, therefore, have been understood as speaking to the fact that Shell Energy worked with business clients to help them make progress towards their own goals in transitioning to a lower-carbon future.
Shell Energy said the ad was published on LinkedIn, a platform for businesses and professional individuals interested in the world of business, economics, finance, technology and commerce. They had used various tags and interest-based targeting tools on the platform to ensure the ad was aimed at a relevant subset of experienced senior individuals in relevant commercial roles who used LinkedIn. As such, the audience was a sophisticated B2B audience with relevant knowledge and experience to understand the ad and its wider context.
They said that given the highly targeted post and its limited claims, which focused on the assistance Shell Energy was giving to help Baker Hughes progress towards their own goals, Shell Energy’s view was that the ad was not misleading.
Assessment
Not upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must not materially mislead and that the basis of environmental claims must be clear.
The ad appeared on LinkedIn, which was accessible to both consumers and business readers. The ASA therefore considered members of both those groups would see the ad.
Shell Energy had used a number of interest-based tags and targeting tools to direct the ad to a specific readership. However, we considered the methods used – tags and interest-based targeting – meant that the targeting remained relatively wide and the ad was seen by a general consumer and business audience, including members of the relevant groups, rather than a business-only audience with specific knowledge.
Regardless, while the ad may have been seen by a mixed audience, it prominently featured the Shell Energy name and logo and its content was focused on business solutions provided by Shell Energy which were not available to general consumers. That positioned the ad in a business context and we therefore considered the ad was a business-to-business marketing communication and was likely to be understood as such by its audience.
The ad included imagery of solar panels and claims about decarbonisation, both of which were environmentally-focused activities. The ad also made the claims “Our work with Baker Hughes to help meet their energy needs […]” and “Discover the progress we’re making together with Baker Hughes to help reduce their emissions […] Progress happens together”.
We considered that readers would understand the ad, which was about Shell Energy’s work with a specific client, as a case study in how Shell Energy was helping business clients decarbonise their operations and the progress they were making together in that regard. They were unlikely to interpret the message as representative of Shell’s wider consumer-facing brand activity or as a comment on its own carbon transition plans.
We therefore concluded that the basis of the environmental claims was clear and the ad was unlikely to mislead.
We investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 11.1 (Environmental claims), but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
