Firms still greenwashing in adverts after being censured, UK investigation finds

Companies person continued to station misleading greenwashing adverts aft being censured by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), according to an investigation.

Greenpeace UK’s investigative journalism unit, Unearthed, reports that Virgin Atlantic, Renault and Aqua Pura are among companies that continued to people unfounded claims astir the biology credentials of their products aft being told to region specified adverts by the advertizing watchdog.

In 2021, the ASA announced a greenwashing crackdown, censuring companies for making claims without evidence. It said 44 firms had made misleading advertisements. As precocious arsenic past week, astatine slightest 5 of these firms were inactive posting claims they had been censured for making, according to Unearthed.

ASA rules mean advertisers request to beryllium wide astir the grounds down immoderate biology claims, and a precocious load of impervious is needed for immoderate implicit claims, specified arsenic that a merchandise is “sustainable” oregon “eco friendly”. The watchdog has fewer powers to guarantee that companies comply with their rulings; it says if firms are seen to beryllium ignoring the rules it tin “significantly harm their reputation”. However, it does not person the powerfulness to contented fines to advertisers.

Sanctions disposable see naming the institution connected the ASA website, asking hunt engines to region paid hunt ads that incorporate the claim, asking societal media companies to region “non-compliant content”, and taking retired its ain paid hunt ads naming the company.

Virgin Atlantic has kept posts “pinned” to the apical of its Instagram, TikTok and X accounts, claiming it completed the archetypal transatlantic formation utilizing “100% sustainable aviation fuel”, according to Unearthed. This is contempt the ASA making a ruling against the hose 9 months agone for this wording successful an advert, due to the fact that it was apt to pb consumers to overestimate the c savings of utilizing the substance – it thought consumers would construe “100% sustainable aviation fuel” to mean the substance was wholly sustainable with nary antagonistic biology impact.

Renault repeatedly published videos connected Facebook and YouTube past twelvemonth claiming its hybrid cars offered “up to 80% electrical driving successful the city”, contempt a 2023 ASA ruling uncovering this wording to beryllium misleading.

Other car manufacturers person continued to marque greenish claims astir their vehicles aft being censured by the ASA. MG past twelvemonth promoted its hybrid cars arsenic “zero emissions”, but the ASA ruled the assertion misleading, arsenic hybrid vehicles are not zero emissions erstwhile being powered by petrol oregon diesel. Electric vehicles are zero emissions lone erstwhile driving if the energy that charged them is 100% renewable. An August 2024 brochure for an electrical conveyance promoted successful an archetypal advertisement banned by the ASA repeatedly utilized the word “zero emissions” without clarification. Meanwhile, an advertisement for a utilized MG4 connected the company’s website suggests that drivers tin “embrace zero emissions” without clarification.

The beforehand leafage of bottled h2o marque Aqua Pura’s website arsenic precocious arsenic past week boasted astir its “NEW Environmentally Friendly Caps”, 3 years aft the ASA told the institution to halt claiming that integrative vessel lids were “eco-friendly”. Easigrass, which makes integrative lawns, was told by the ASA much than a twelvemonth agone to halt calling its synthetic writer products “eco-friendly”. However, it has continued to assertion connected its website that 1 of its integrative writer products is “eco-friendly and 100% recyclable”. At the time, the watchdog said that determination was nary impervious that integrative writer was “eco friendly” and lone 1 installation successful the UK tin recycle integrative grass.

An ASA spokesperson said: “Our world-leading enactment connected clime alteration and the situation continues to beryllium a precedence country and we proceed to proactively show greenish claims utilizing our AI-based Active Ad Monitoring system, uncovering ads that perchance interruption our rules and getting those that bash rapidly amended oregon removed.

“We are seeing businesses adapting and evolving to marque amended evidenced, much precise greenish claims. As an example, pursuing our hose rulings connected ‘sustainable’ and ‘eco-friendly’ claims, of the circa 140,000 ads monitored, 5 were recovered to beryllium non-compliant. But wherever we find issues, we act; arsenic evidenced by our bid of high-profile rulings against a scope of businesses including immoderate of the biggest companies successful the world.”

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “We’re committed to achieving nett zero by 2050 and cardinal to this volition beryllium utilizing sustainable aviation substance (SAF), which is 1 of the astir contiguous levers to decarbonising agelong haul aviation. Flight100 was a milestone for manufacture globally arsenic it proved that SAF is simply a safe, 100% drop-in replacement for fossil substance and demonstrated the extremist collaboration required to thrust accrued production, proviso and uptake.

“Social posts were shared to people the achievement, show the breadth of the task and the challenges that stay for the manufacture to execute nett zero.”

A Renault spokesperson said: “Renault UK takes its responsibilities earnestly and volition analyse the issues raised.”

An Aqua Pura spokesperson said its advertizing squad had precocious undergone a restructuring, meaning it was hard to instrumentality each the recommendations, adding: “We volition verify the existent and aboriginal exertion of each recommendations relating to biology claims, peculiarly connected our website.”

MG Motor UK said: “MG Motor UK afloat accepted and past instantly responded to the ASA astatine the time, this related to a hybrid conveyance besides being featured alongside an EV exemplary and this was a constituent of clarification from the ASA which we accepted. We volition ever afloat and actively cooperate with the ASA regarding immoderate guidelines and each our originative teams are actively briefed to bash so.”

An Easigrass spokesperson said: “We admit the ASA’s ruling issued successful March 2024 and tin corroborate that the selling connection referenced successful your connection was scheduled for removal pursuing that decision. While our volition was to guarantee each applicable contented was updated accordingly, it appears a tiny fig of archived references were inadvertently missed by our website team.”