Just popping down your ‘local’? It might be further than you think.
20 December 2006
Although the problems at the heart of a recent ASA upheld adjudication involving Tesco did not involve environmental claims, the adjudication nevertheless brought a wider debate about eco-friendliness to the fore.
Intending its ad to coincide with a Bangor store promotion “Enjoy the Taste of Wales”, Tesco placed a regional press ad that stated “Water from your local springs. Wine from your local vineyards. And vegetables from your local farms. Now all available from your local Tesco.” It turned out, however, that people from Bangor and the surrounding area did not share Tesco’s definition of what constitutes “local”. A member of the public objected that the produce shown in the ad was not local to Bangor.
The ASA believed readers were likely to interpret “local” as referring to their immediate surrounding region. Because the products in the ad were not specifically local to Bangor, the ASA considered that that ad was likely to mislead readers and upheld the complaint.
Beyond the immediate ramifications of the ruling was something that environmentalists are highlighting as a major contributory factor to climate change: supermarket produce from abroad. Supermarkets are under intense scrutiny because of the heavy carbon footprint that they are leaving on the environment. The burden that flying-in produce that began life on a tree on the other side of the world has on the climate is a heavy one because of the significant carbon emissions from planes and lorries.
Like many supermarket chains, Tesco was advertising its active support for home grown produce that not only benefits local business but is also kinder to the environment. Although Tesco’s thinking was commendable, in this instance the “local” Tesco referred to was not local enough.
The wind of change
Making environmental claims is not, then, as straight forward as it might first appear. Even when they are trying to do their bit to pollute less, reduce carbon emissions and help reduce global warming and climate change, companies can still run into opposition from certain quarters. The ASA regularly finds itself dragged into the heated and often controversial debates that rage between the renewable energy lobby and those who believe the environmental benefit of these schemes is negligible.
Wind farms, for instance, have divided opinion like no other renewable energy source. The ASA receives a swathe of complaints from people about advertisements promoting the benefits of wind turbines on the environment. And it has to look into complaints from wind farm companies that object to ads that seek to offer an argument against the benefits of this form of energy production.
Feelings in both camps run deep. Some people do not like wind farms because of the ‘eyesore’ that they represent, others object that wind farms do not offset the amount of CO2 that advertisers claim they do. It only takes a brief look at the adjudications section on the ASA website to see how regularly ads of this nature are brought to the regulator’s attention.
The advertising environment
As a famous frog once said, “it aint easy being green”. Advertisers are perhaps starting to see the truth of that statement. Providing robust evidence to back-up environmental claims can be difficult but the ASA will expect advertisers to have documentary evidence to support the green claims they make. The climate might well be changing and, similarly, the number of eco-friendly ad claims is noticeably changing, too. Although everyone is trying to do their bit to save the earth, advertisers should remember that it wastes a lot of energy if they do not get their message right.