Ad watchdog conducts record level of rulings on green issues in 2023
The UK’s ad watchdog is getting increasingly busy dishing out fines for companies who are, intentionally or not, misleading customers with sustainability claims that miss the standards.
Since the start of the year, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has conducted 29 formal rulings on green issues this year, the highest amount on record, according to data shared with City PM
Some 25 of these were upheld, meaning the ad had to be changed or removed, and four were not upheld, meaning no further action was taken.
The number is up from 16 formal rulings in 2022 and 10 in both 2021 and 2020.
Last week, the regulator banned adverts by airlines Air France, Lufthansa and Etihad for portraying a misleading picture of their environmental impact.
A couple of weeks ago, the ASA banned two Toyota ads for promoting environmentally harmful driving, citing a lack of social responsibility. It marked the first time the regulator has blocked an SUV ad on these grounds.
The ad watchdog said the upward trend does not necessarily mean advertisers are increasingly getting it wrong.
“Rather, we know more and more advertisers are making green claims in ads overall and, as we’ve conducted research and updated our guidance in key areas, we’ve used rulings to demonstrate to industry how to avoid getting it wrong,” an ASA spokesperson said.
“We’re also transitioning from a reactive to a proactive model via our new Active Ad Monitoring system, using AI to process hundreds of thousands of ads every month for specialist review. Green claims is just one area we’re using this new technology in, explaining in part this increase,” they added.
The ASA data does not include informal rulings or advice notices.
Chris Hocknell, director at London-based sustainability consultancy, Eight Versa, said sustainability claims are often “woolly and lofty” statements that try to promote an organisation rather than its impact.
“With the increased importance and attention to sustainability in the last 24 months, this phenomenon has gone into overdrive,” he told City PM
But as consumers and investors become more clued up around sustainability, more social media campaigns and legal challenges to combat greenwashing are arising, Hocknell argued.
“What we have needed for a long time is a trading standards approach to sustainability-related statements, whereby the regulator has the ability to sanction misleading or false statements,” he explained.
In 2021 the ASA announced it would be launching inquiries into environmental claims made by companies in sectors such as energy, waste and transport after finding “significant scope” for firms to make mistakes.
Chief executive of the Digital Sustainability Alliance and Ad Signal, Tom Dunning, said the ASA’s recent pushback on greenwashing is great to see but it needs to go further.
Speaking to City PM, he said: “These rulings need to be expanded into advertising in the technology and AI sectors which are already responsible for surging emissions.
“We need a dual approach, with regulatory bodies clamping down hard on misleading and unethical practices and industry leaders to get a grip and start practising what they preach when it comes to sustainability.”
Under the digital markets, competition and consumer bills, currently passing through Lords, big companies could face fines of up to 10 per cent of global turnover for breaches of consumer law.
Just a couple of weeks ago, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced it would force firms to prove their environmental, social and governance (ESG). It plans to improve the “trust and transparency of sustainable investment products” amid floods of firms racing to slap the label on their funds.
Today the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it is probing Dove and Marmite owner Unilever over alleged “vague” statements and the firm’s use of ‘green leaves’ imagery.
The CMA also recently launched an investigation into boiler brand Worcester Bosch over whether it misled shoppers with confusing or inaccurate green claims in its marketing.