Green is the new black

16 February 2007

As concern across the globe about the causes and effects of climate change increases, attention has turned to how we can all help to reduce the amount of harm that we individually cause: recycling our household waste, switching to lower carbon-emission producing vehicles; not wasting energy in the home by using standby buttons and keeping lights on. Carbon trading, off-setting and footprints are becoming everyday phrases. Companies are establishing corporate social responsibility programmes, which include some “green” element to them. Showing commitment to the Earth’s wellbeing is now big business.

Never slow to pick up on a trend, advertisers are keen to promote the green credentials of their product or service. But a couple of recent adjudications by the ASA Council have shown that the advertisers still need to take care to ensure that they do not over exaggerate the environmental benefits of their product. December saw the ASA uphold a complaint against Volkswagen following their publication of a national press ad stating that the “CO2 emissions for the Golf GT TSI are lower than other engines with similar outputs”. The low emission claim was deemed to be misleading when it transpired that the vehicle sits in the fifth most polluting band of vehicles, out of a total of seven bands.

This ruling has followed a censure for Scottish & Southern Energy Group, who trade as Scottish Hydro Electric. In their ad, Scottish Hydro Electric had claimed that “we plant trees to balance out the CO2 that your gas heating and household waste produces.” When challenged, the advertisers were unable to satisfy us that they would indeed plant enough trees to absorb as much carbon dioxide as the amount that is produced by the average UK household.

The advertising codes have always required advertisers to hold substantiation for all factual claims and they contain specific rules with regard to environmental claims. With climate change firmly staying on the global agenda, the “green” issue will not be a passing fad. Advertisers will need to ensure that when extolling their green credentials they don’t end up red in the face.