Zero tolerance for carbon emissions
28 February 2008
Two recent ASA adjudications have highlighted how careful advertisers must be to ensure that they do not exaggerate the green credentials of their products.
When it named its new gas and electricity product the Zero Carbon tariff, British Gas wanted to let customers know that the electricity it supplied was from 100% renewable sources and that it would offset their household C02 emissions through carbon offset schemes in the Third World.
When challenged, British Gas were able to substantiate the claims “for every customer on this tariff we will supply an equivalent amount of renewable energy into the national grid as well as offsetting all the carbon emissions from the home's gas and electricity supply” by showing that its electricity was from renewable sources and that it had bought carbon credits through Certified Emissions Reductions (CER) offsetting schemes that had been properly accredited under the Kyoto Protocol.
14 viewers of TV ads for the product believed that the product name "zero carbon" was misleading, because it implied the fuel used was carbon-free, and pointed out that, because gas was a fossil fuel, carbon dioxide would always be produced when it was burned.
The ASA considered the complaints carefully and agreed with the complainants that the claim Zero Carbon implied that no carbon would be produced, not that the carbon produced would be offset. Read the adjudication.
The ASA received a complaint from a competitor about a British Gas advertisement feature in the Guardian for the same tariff; it claimed “the greenest domestic energy tariff compared to those on the energywatch website”. Scottish and Southern Electricity complained that, although it was a useful source of information for consumers thinking of buying green energy products, the website did not rank the British Gas product as greener than theirs because the site did not compare the products in terms of “greenness”.
British Gas had consulted the CAP Copy Advice team before finalising the ad. The team advised that the claim was problematic given the difficulty in quantifying all the facets of the green tariffs listed on the website. British Gas was confident in its claims and chose not to take the advice given. The ASA nevertheless considered that readers would expect the claims to be based on independently authorised material or an accredited ranking system for green tariffs and upheld the complaint. Read the adjudication.
CAP’s team of advisers know the CAP Code inside out and have in-depth knowledge of the latest ASA adjudications and so are well-qualified to spot potential problems with your campaigns and advise you on the changes you should make. You can consult us by calling 020 7492 2210, e-mailing enquiries to copyadvice@cap.org.uk or accessing our AdviceOnline database on the CAP website. Every day we’re trying to make offsetting a little less upsetting for our customers.