Shell hits backs at advertising watchdog after it labels green campaign ‘misleading’
Shell has hit back at the UK’s advertising watchdog after it upheld a complaint against the energy giant’s campaign showcasing its green credentials.
The company told City PM they “strongly disagree” with the Advertising Standards Agency’s (ASA) decision, warning it could “slow the UK’s drive towards renewable energy.”
Campaign group Adfree Cities, which looks to challenge corporate advertising,- concerned over its effects on the environment, communities and the local economy – raised two complaints with the ASA over a series of adverts launched by Shell last year.
It argued that a poster, TV advert and YouTube video from Shell – which were unveiled in June 2022 – were misleading to consumers.
The adverts were centred around clean energy, including slogans such as “The UK is ready for cleaner energy” while showcasing Shell’s renewable credentials.
In the YouTube commercial, Shell said: “From electric vehicle charging to renewable electricity for your home, Shell is giving customers more low-carbon choices and helping drive the UK’s energy transition.”
The TV advert focused on Shell’s embrace of electric vehicles (EVs), with a man fitting an EV charging point announcing that “Shell aims to fit 50,000 chargers nationwide by 2025”.
Meanwhile the poster, seen in Bristol revealed that in South West England “78,000 homes use 100 per cent renewable electricity from Shell Energy.
Adfree Cities – which noted that Shell’s business activities included substantial, ongoing and expanding fossil fuel production, – challenged whether the adverts were misleading because omitted significant information about the overall environmental impact of Shell’s business activities.
They also wanted clarification over claims in the adverts such including whether the 1.4m households in the UK use 100 per cent renewable electricity from Shell could substantiated.
The ASA dismissed this claim but upheld the claim over Shell’s advertising campaign failing to include references to its oil and gas activities.
In the verdict, the ASA argued the adverts were likely to “mislead consumers if they misrepresented the contribution that lower-carbon initiatives played, or would play in the near future, as part of the overall balance of a company’s activities.”
ASA warned that ” in the absence of qualifying information, the cumulative effect of the claims relating to applications or sources of lower-carbon energy that spanned distinct and diverse areas of Shell’s operations.”
It has confirmed the adverts must not not appear again in the form complained, warning Shell that future ads featuring environmental claims had to avoid misleading customers by omitting material information about, the proportion of their business activities that were comprised of lower carbon activities.
Shell warns ASA verdict is ‘unworkable’
Shell disagreed with the decision, arguing their advertising campaign was essential for drawing awareness to their growing green agenda.
A spokesperson for Shell said: “People are already well aware that Shell produces the oil and gas they depend on today. When customers fill up at our petrol stations across the UK, it’s under the instantly recognisable Shell logo.
“But what many people don’t know is we’re also investing heavily in low- and zero-carbon energy, including building one of the UK’s largest public networks of EV charge points. No energy transition can be successful if people are not aware of the alternatives available to them. That is what our adverts set out to show, and that is why we’re concerned by this short-sighted decision.”
Shell has warned the ASA it would be disproportionate and unworkable for regulators to require businesses with diverse product portfolios to ensure that ads, whose primary purpose was usually to promote a specific range of products, always provided a full overview of the advertiser’s business as a whole.
Last year, Shell’s cash capital expenditure reached $24.8bn (£20bn) – with around 17 per cent committed to renewables – including low carbon projects, biofuels, hydrogen, EV charging and wind turbines, totalling around $3.9bn (£3.14bn).
It has also committed £25bn of investment in the UK’s energy system over the current decade – with at least 75 per cent intended for low carbon and zero-carbon technology, including offshore wind and EVs.
The company also raked in record full-year revenues of $39.9bn (£32.2bn) in 2022, powered by oil and gas investments and soaring fossil fuel prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Shell currently provides around 10 per cent of the UK’s North Sea oil and gas, which helps meet half our supply needs.